Facing rising costs, the Steamship Authority is proposing more rate hikes across the board for travelers including, despite public opposition, a slight increase to the Islanders only excursion fare, which hadn’t risen since 2021.
On Tuesday, the ferry line staff presented a preliminary operational budget of $162.2 million to the Port Council. That’s an over $12 million increase from last year’s $150.7 million operational budget the Steamship Authority board approved in November, or an over 7 percent increase.
The ferry line has approved rate hikes for the last several years in a row, excluding the excursion fare. Under the current proposal, the standard vehicle fare would increase between $3.50 and $8 while the excursion rate would increase as much as $2.75. Passenger tickets are also proposed to be raised 50¢.
The proposed increase comes with the ferry line expecting some major expenditures next year, including millions of dollars toward maintenance. A $3.065 million increase is expected for vessel maintenance, the largest portion from drydocking and repairs and $1.913 million more for terminals, over half of which is for repairs to docks and dolphins — including Vineyard facilities.
Additionally, with union contracts recently settled for the majority of Steamship staff, the ferry line is expected to pay out $2.74 million more for its payroll.
Other factors impacting the ferry line’s budget include bringing the freight ferry Monomoy into service and building a new reservation system, both of which are expected to be activated next year and will require training staff.
To offset the costs, the Steamship Authority is proposing fare increases to amass $7.4 million in additional revenue next year, $4.4 million of which would be from the Vineyard route.
The most anticipated among the fare adjustments is the excursion fare, which lets Islanders travel with their vehicles on a discounted rate. Mark Rozum, Steamship treasurer and comptroller, said the ferry line should review the excursion fare program overall to find ways to bring the rate more in line with the other fares. Currently, someone can enroll into the program with just a driver’s license, a vehicle registered on Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket, and have an address listed on an Island town’s street list. Rozum raised the possibility of replacing the address qualification to being a registered voter on the Islands because there have been cases in which people have not used the program “how it was originally intended to.”
Rozum said the excursion fare was supposed to help year-round Islanders with their travel necessities, like visiting family, medical appointments, and attending their children’s school events. He underscored it was not meant to subsidize expenses of a business or for someone who has a second home on the Islands.
“We have people using it over 200 times a year,” Rozum said.
To further highlight this point, Rozum said 92 percent of excursion rate participants on the Vineyard route use it just 24 times or less annually, which accounts for only 74 percent of excursion rates. That means the remaining 8 percent of users made up 25 percent of the rest of the excursion reservations. Rozum said Nantucket showed a similar distribution.
Additionally, Rozum pointed out that the excursion rate is heavily subsidized by the standard vehicle reservation rate. On the Vineyard route, 30 percent of the vehicle deck space is used by excursion ticket holders while the standard vehicle ticket holders use 42 percent of the space, which generate 10 percent and 60 percent of the revenue respectively.
“At some point we need to get that more in balance,” Rozum said. “Not one-to-one, but it’s … slipped.”
Rozum also said it was appropriate to consider a revamp since a new reservation system was coming in the future.
Several Port Council members liked New Bedford representative Gordon Carr’s suggestion of exploring a separate “lifeline rate” to help better organize and charge people.
Joe Sollitto, Oak Bluffs Port Council representative, said this has been an ongoing conversation on the Vineyard. He said one idea was making a residential exemption, similar to how town assessors offices provide some tax reductions to residents.
Here is a breakdown of the proposed fare hikes on the Vineyard route:
- Standard vehicle fares
- $3.50 to $5.50 increase for Jan. 1 to May 14 and Nov. 1 to Dec. 31
- $6 increase from Sept. 15 to Oct. 31
- $6 increase Monday to Thursday and $8 increase from Friday to Sunday for May 15 to Sept 14
- $55 increase for the automobile 10-ride coupon book.
- Excursion fare
- $1.75 increase from Jan. 1 to May 14 and Sept. 15 to Dec. 31 per segment.
- $2.75 increase from May 15 to Sept. 14 per segment.
- 5.5 percent increase for freight fare
- Passenger tickets
- 50¢ increase for an one-way adult ticket
- 25¢ increase for a one-way child/senior ticket
- $4.50 increase for a 10-ride adult book
- $2.75 increase for a 10-ride child/senior book
- $9.25 increase for 46-ride book
- Daily parking fees
- $5 increase from Jan. 1 to March 31 and Nov. 1 to Dec. 31
- $8 increase from April 1 to May 14 and Sept. 15 to Oct. 31
- Annual parking permits will increase $200 and $50 for the Woods Hole and Palmer Avenue lots, respectively.
Steamship staff highlighted some positives that stemmed from last year’s budget: a new reservation system expected to be live in 2026, increased preventative vessel maintenance, and investing in the ferry workforce. They underscored the decrease in cancellations compared to 2024: a 36 percent decrease in mechanical trip cancellations and a 58 percent drop in cancellations from crew shortages.
“The product itself is successful,” Mark Amundsen, Steamship COO, said. “It comes at a cost.”
After calculating the income, revenue, and other expenses, the Steamship Authority is expecting a net income of $2.75 million next year.
A final version of the budget and fare adjustments will need to be approved by the Steamship Authority board. The ferry line is planning on holding open houses regarding the proposed budget starting next week and plans to make a revised proposal by Oct. 1.
MV residents recommend reliable service and responsible budgets across the board
Your story on SSA’s proposed fare increases would have been more helpful if the list of increases had included what the new rates for each category would actually be. Reporting that the price of something will increased by $3.50 doesn’t tell me what the new price will actually be. It assumes the reader already knows the current price, which may not be the case.
Islanders know the current rates.
Also, it doesn’t seem fare to charge long-term part-time residents the same to go back and forth in their cars as one or two-week tourists. Maybe some other time frame, like 6 months, would be more fair.
I’m glad to see the numbers of cancellations are going down, and that staffing is being addressed. 200 excursion fares in a year? That’s almost four trips off-island per week. I wonder how many are booked and then not used, leading to the “consolidation cancellations”. Scheduled, fully staffed boats, ready to sail, suddenly don’t have enough cars or passengers to make the trip cost effective.
However, sometimes those consolidation alerts are for boats that were completely sold out in the months, weeks, and days before travel, and even when requesting established need for medical travel. Guardrails against black market resale and income verification may be needed for the excursion program moving forward. But some bonus points to the SSA – I see more women on the crews lately!
Fare increases might be less offensive if reliability was better.
Funny, you mention more women on the crews – I often wonder if we’re all watching the same regata. Women have sailed past men in college degrees and economic gains nationwide for the better part of a decade. If we’re handing out bonus points, maybe toss some toward the guys: they’re graduating less, earning less, and (if we’re talking about outcomes that really matter) dying by suicide at nearly four times the rate of women. A rising tide raises all ships, and progress for women is worth celebrating, but let’s not pretend everyone’s journey is on the same smooth sea.
The SSA is increasing the price of tickets??…Finally!