Steamship Authority approves new waitlist model

Changes are on the horizon for Steamship Authority (SSA) passengers as the ferry line looks to implement changes to how its waitlist system operates. 

In an ongoing effort to revamp the ferry line’s reservation system, the SSA board unanimously approved several policies to be incorporated into its new model on Tuesday. There are plans to roll out the first phase of the reservation system this coming fall. 

Among the changes, modifications to the waitlist and standby lines were most anticipated by Islanders. The new policy modified the waitlist so that after customers make a reservation, they can select up to five trips to add to the waitlist. Meanwhile, the new standby line will require the purchase of a separate ticket for a specific trip, and the Blue Line, a standby line designated for Islanders, will remain as is for now, but will be reviewed by ferry staff to determine the best way to incorporate it into the new system.

The changes are being made because the ferry line’s older system is being built into an existing, off-the-shelf program offered by E-Dea, an Italian software company specializing in vessel and port operations that is tasked with rebuilding the SSA’s reservation system. 

“We have to take all of our legacy policies and procedures and make them fit within that system, and the challenge is that many of them don’t,” Mark Amundsen, SSA chief operating officer, said, although he highlighted that the new system will be “very streamlined, and simpler to use” than the current program. Amundsen said more is expected to be revealed during the beta testing phase, which is expected to start in the next month. 

Alex Kryska, SSA general manager, said the ferry line is trying to keep the new system as consistent with the current one as possible so as not to “overwhelm everybody coming out of the gate.

“The proof is going to be in the pudding when we’re actually testing it out,” Kryska said. He highlighted that the changes were decided upon following discussions with the public, and that they won’t take any discounts away, like medical discounts built into the excursion program.

Ted Gavin, who attended a SSA board meeting for the first time as the Martha’s Vineyard representative on Tuesday, highlighted that the ferry line should reach out to customers on how the changes will impact them “day one, week one, and month one,” underscoring the potential for misalignment between what is being proposed and how the waitlist system has been used by Islanders. 

“Some of this is going to require people to change their behaviors that they’ve had for a really long time,” Gavin said.

Thomas Innis, consultant from Gibbous, the technology firm tapped to oversee the reservation system revamp, said the changes are an attempt to balance flexibility in the trips people can take and trip certainty. 

“We’re trying to navigate the tradeoffs and figure out what’s the right way to go with this system,” Innis said. He also noted that there’s room to make further changes depending on feedback and how well the system works. 

Another shift includes changing how vehicle space is measured aboard vessels. Instead of using preset blocks of space to measure availability, space will be measured by the linear feet of a vehicle. This is expected to allow more vehicles aboard vessels than before. In the example provided by the SSA, if only 14-foot vehicles were to be lined up in a 180-foot lane, the new model could fit 12 vehicles in one lane rather than 10. In the current block model, the reservation allocation gives a 14-foot vehicle 17 feet of space. 

And for those enrolled in the Head Start program, which allows year-round and seasonal Vineyard and Nantucket residents the opportunity to make summer reservations before the general openings begin, new policies allow them to make five transferable reservations per customer. However, they must now be “booked directly at time of purchase,” according to a staff presentation. Before, only three of the five reservations could be transferred, though the transfer could be done at a later date. 

Other changes included simplifying special discount programs, replacing a deposit with a cancellation fee for commercial customers, having a single deadline and lottery for commercial shippers, and making it so only passengers who book multiple medical reservations can delay payment.

Now the SSA is moving on to its next phase of policy amendments, including ways to address customers who don’t show up for reservations, definitions of medical travel, and managing deck space.