The spectre of the Steamship Authority’s (SSA) website development, a failed project that wasted millions in taxpayer dollars with nothing to show for it, is haunting the development of the new reservation system.
At the SSA board meeting on Sept. 15, ferry officials said that a repeat of the website project can’t happen with the replacement of the reservation system, a critical undertaking that will be the backbone of the information technology (IT) infrastructure overhaul that’s been in the works for years. It really started in 2023 when consultants told the ferry line that the IT infrastructure was underinvested.
But the transition to a new reservation system has experienced delays, with the project missing its initial spring launch goal and now forecast to not go live by the end of the year.
Alex Kryska, SSA general manager, noted Tuesday that the “nuances” of the ferry line’s operations, such as Head Start reservations and Islanders’ discounted excursion fares, need extra work or new policies established in order to be configured with what’s currently available through the upgraded system offered by E-Dea, the Italian firm that specializes in software for maritime operations like ferries and ports.
Ferry executives also suggested a soft launch in which only the Iyannough, the fast ferry that carries passengers exclusively between Hyannis and Nantucket, the new system next year while the rest of the fleet uses the current structure.
“The more we lay on them, the longer it takes,” Kryka said.
Ted Gavin, the Vineyard’s SSA board representative, said he didn’t fault ferry staff, some of whom helped in the system development on top of regular duties, for the situation. He called the delay a “project management failing” and moved to terminate the ferry line’s contract with Gibbous LLC, the Boston-based consulting firm that’s been shepherding the IT overhaul since 2023 and has been paid $1.86 million so far. Gavin said during the meeting that the SSA could use the time to reassess what the ferry line needs for the management of the project so that employees don’t “come apart at the seams.”
No board members backed the contract termination, and the motion died on the floor. But Gavin’s call for a need to reassess the project was shared by multiple ferry officials.
Gavin even called for an outside, “objective” perspective by hiring a major consulting firm like Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG), Price Water Cooper (PwC), or Lions Gate, which has experience with system implementation for B.C. Ferries in Canada, to ensure the new SSA reservation system is “100 percent successful for our riders and our staff without trying to backwards schedule from a self-imposed go-live date that isn’t tethered to our reality any longer.”
“This is a conversation we probably should have had a couple of months ago,” Gavin said.
Gavin also said that there’s been no beta testing done so far accompanied by a lack of communications from interested participants. He said the system is overall functional, but the process is “falling apart” with SSA staff making preparations for next year, like a budget and boat schedule.
“I’m really concerned we are resource-constrained,” Gavin said. “We’re approaching this as a boot-strap implementation, and we don’t need to be. Our existing system works. It’s not going away tomorrow. We don’t need to be doing gymnastics to try and get this in.”
Tom Innis of Gibbous, who’s been heading the firm’s activities with the SSA, declined to comment. The firm has guided the SSA in several ways, like noting that the ferry line should have replaced its reservation system, an aging code owned by Saber Tech, rather than the website. The shelved development of a new website was blasted in a report from the state Office of the Inspector General issued in December that said it wasted between $2 million and over $4 million and accused the board of not holding the former general manager, Robert Davis, and the SSA’s pursestrings for the project accountable.
But the process hasn’t been cheap. According to the SSA accounting department, Gibbous has been paid $1.86 million, with $226,000 remaining in outstanding payments. E-Dea, meanwhile, was signed on with a five-year, $5.78 million contract last June.
Beth O’Connor, co-founder of Steamship Authority Citizens’ Action Group and an accountant, raised the expenses during the board meeting, and also told The Times she is keeping an eye on the finances, including with public records requests. But she expressed worry that she felt the IT Executive Steering Committee was trying to pressure results from the SSA staff for the project.
“Rather than helping, they’re bullying,” she said but acknowledged there was a tonal shift during the Tuesday meeting. She felt there should also be self-assessment among the committee and board members who were pushing for the project to meet a self-imposed deadline. “Otherwise, we’re going in circles,” she said.
In the meeting, Kryska said that while “great headway” was made while E-Dea representatives were in Massachusetts earlier this month, there were “serious constraints.” While there wasn’t a “100 percent plan” yet, Kryska called for a reevaluation of the project goals and timeline.
“We need to be providing safe and reliable service to our customers,” he said. “If we can’t do that, we need to relook at what we’re doing. We’re not just a boat company, we’re a customer service company.”
Robert Jones, Barnstable board representative, said the SSA should avoid overcomplicating an already complex project or rushing it.
“I understand where we’re going, but we’re really digging ourselves into a hole trying to appease everybody,” Jones said.
Peter Jeffrey, board chair and Falmouth representative, asked for a written report on E-Dea, including milestones, tests, the budget, and public accountability. He also said a recovery plan would need to be formulated.
“As a board, I can’t … get into the position of having indefinite uncertainty of when this system is going to launch,” Jeffrey said. “It can’t be like the website.”
Still, Jeffrey believes a successful launch is doable, but it needs a clear outline.
“Let’s show the Washington State ferry system how to do it,” Jeffrey said, referencing a reservation system overhaul contract that the country’s largest ferry service abruptly terminated in March after nearly $3 million worth of work.
The chair also said the board wants to support Kryska through the “weaknesses” he inherited from Davis but underscored “transparency, verifiable controls and early warnings are now conditions of continued board confidence,” saying the ferry line must be “unambiguously clear” to the public and its staff.
“Accountability is a cultural priority,” Jeffrey said.
