Traffic backups approaching the Steamship Authority terminal in Woods Hole remain a pain point for both travelers and residents of the village.
Traffic backups approaching the Steamship Authority terminal in Woods Hole remain a pain point for both travelers and residents of the village.
“We’re regularly spending 15 or 20 minutes in traffic … basically held hostage on Woods Hole Road,” frequent SSA critic Nat Trumbull said at last week’s port council meeting in Falmouth.
“It does not feel like business as usual [and] it really doesn’t seem viable going forward,” Mr. Trumbull said.
Steamship Authority general manager Robert Davis and director of shoreside operations Alison Fletcher said the boat line is working on multiple fronts to relieve the congestion: hiring additional staffers and police details, opening an additional check-in booth for vehicle reservations and providing a golf cart to speed slow-moving passengers to the slip.
They’re also using the SSA website, newsletters and lighted highway signs to remind motorists that there is no ferry parking in Woods Hole, a message Ms. Fletcher said has been slow to catch on.
“That still is an issue: People seem to just think they can park in Woods Hole. … which hasn’t happened in 20 years, almost,” she said, attributing about a third of the terminal traffic to drivers vainly seeking to leave their cars and walk aboard.
“The messaging is out there. Now, we just have to get them to read the message and follow it,” said Ms. Fletcher, who told the port council that misguided drivers are contributing significantly more to Woods Hole traffic congestion than the ongoing construction project at the terminal, where work is going on inside the new ticket building.
“The construction crew works great with our staff,” she said.
While Mr. Davis acknowledged the inconvenience of having a fenced-off construction zone in the middle of the terminal, he too defended the project from charges it’s worsening traffic.
“There seems to be some standard times that we end up having a backup and some of those times — most of those times, actually — are when there is actually no construction going on, the workers have all gone home for the day, or it’s a weekend,” Mr. Davis said.
The Steamship Authority board of governors, for which the port council is an advisory body, meets on the Vineyard next Tuesday at 10 a.m. in Oak Bluffs town hall.
Comments
Blame it on people trying to
Really! TisburyBlame it on people trying to park in woods hole is absolutely comical. I ask the port director to spend a day sitting in the booth. This is typical deflection. It is a simple problem of too many vehicles on 1 small bit of road. You can’t go around the line of cars stacked up at the booth. Can you even imagine sitting in a line trying to drop off your family and all their stuff and going back to park. Yes, people do this because the busses are so packed. That “guarantee” bus from Palmer is no longer a good bet because you could be in line for 10 minutes. And the moment there is a cancelled boat it all gets worse. This won’t be solved anytime soon but please stop blaming something that wasn’t a problem before construction.
Building the terminal right
Bill Ryan Edgartown/New JerseyBuilding the terminal right smack in the middle of the parking lot was the worst idea ever! Yes, I have heard--- construction of the new slips would have destroyed the old terminal, the temporary one is not up to standards blah blah blah....RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LOT! BLOCKING THE VIEWS! TERRIBLE!
Agreed
Suzanne Boyer AquinnahAgreed
When I was a kid there were 3
Margot Lane menemshaWhen I was a kid there were 3 billion people in the world, now there are 8…granted, not all are headed to MV, but, there are carpooling apps out there, buses to the ferry and, when you arrive, there is great public transportation! There are auto and bike rentals on MV. Who among us hasn’t been stuck in weary, hot traffic, baking away whilst a motorcycle whizzes past? Yes the onus is on the SA, but in the meantime, being inventive can equal more Summer fun time.
Why anyone NOT bringing a car
Kay SaucierWhy anyone NOT bringing a car to the Vineyard in the summer would take the Steamship makes no sense. Take the Island Queen, parking is so very close, and the boat ride is a delight. Or take the Falmouth boat to Edgartown, which also has easy parking. And of course there are also passenger boats out of Rhode Island, New Bedford, and Hyannis. All of these avoid the Woods Hole Road south of Falmouth Hospital, the Steamship bus, and the hassle. The slightly lower cost of the Steamship for passengers and parking is simply not worth the agita.
What about walk-on passengers
IDC9What about walk-on passengers who use the Steamship for early morning and mid to late evening ferries when the Island Queen and other alternative ferries aren't running? Should they have to completley rework their schedules to avoid the Steamship during the summer months? That doesn't seem right to me.
With all that being said though, I agree that walk-on passengers should consider taking the Island Queen and other alternative ferries during the summer if their schedules permit.
The comment from "Really"
Not Really! FalmouthThe comment from "Really" resonates truthfully. As a daily commuter, I have missed four boats since Memorial Day—three at 8:15 and one at 10:45—because shuttle drivers either did not have enough time or the authority to ensure that we could get through the ticket booth backup in a timely manner, with no alternative routes available. This situation is simply unacceptable.
Moreover, since the poorly planned Memorial Day weekend, when wait times at the ticket booth exceeded an hour, little to no improvements have been made. Even without the storm, this chaos was entirely predictable. It is appalling that the SSA administration did not proactively address these issues before construction began in Woods Hole.
The costs associated with commuter parking and passes are exorbitant, surpassing $3,000 per year, yet commuters are treated like second-class customers. It has become a regular occurrence to wait 30 minutes for shuttles from Woods Hole to the Palmer lot for those arriving on the 5:00 boat. This is intolerable. The buses are often dangerously overcrowded, and most of the vessels in service are ill-equipped to handle the volume of seasonal travelers. The Nantucket and freight boats are simply too small to serve commuters effectively during the off-season.
It is well past time for profound change and accountability from the SSA. The general manager and his staff have made too many unfulfilled promises. Why is he still in office? In my experience, it is unprecedented for someone in his position to remain employed given his poor results. The SSA has earned its negative reputation. Unfortunately, the dedicated workers on the docks and decks and terminals are set up to fail due to the organization's overall mismanagement.
I agree with you 100% and I
Frequent Passenger FalmouthI agree with you 100% and I think the SSA really needs to listen to commuters more-- the Island would not function without you. I do want to make a suggestion for commuters in your position who are physically able: park at Palmer and bike down to the boat on the bike path. I live near Palmer so would normally walk over and hop on the shuttle, but I often bike down to the ferry at peak times because it is way more reliable and pleasant. Takes me about 20-25 minutes. Weather exists but so do good rain capes. SSA could help facilitate this by providing a free or cheap bike storage shed at Palmer and a roofed bike parking area in Woods Hole. Best of luck to you and everyone dealing with this BS on an everyday basis.
Absolute incompetence is
John VHAbsolute incompetence is being defined before your very eyes. Meanwhile, the SSA Board of Governors continues to let this fester and get worse. How pathetic and unacceptable!
Time to run more freight -
Mike MainlandTime to run more freight - and passengers - out of New Bedford.
That would help ease the
IDC9That would help ease the strain at Woods Hole, even if only one vessel (be it a freight boat or a regular boat) was moved to operate from there.
Let folks off the Palmer
mike kelfer chilmarkLet folks off the Palmer/Landers busses if they're stuck in line and at risk of missing the ferry. This can't add that much liability to what's already incurred maneuvering around the construction and trotting to the slips while cars are disembarking from arrived ferries and swerving left and right ...
Get rid of the ticket booth.
Karl OBGet rid of the ticket booth. Use a camera to capture license plate numbers and a digital display to direct cars to the appropriate lane. That would remove the bottleneck. None of that is cutting edge—parking lots already use similar technology.
Hard working folks in the
Danglingrope FalmouthHard working folks in the ticket booth are certainly appreciated by me!
Build the bridge 250 to go on
Chris keniston Okeechobee fl.Build the bridge 250 to go on the island 10 to get off. Residents get 1 yr pass 100$ non transferable. Or bring back the train. I grew up on the vineyard.
Make the bridge one way - 2
Amy EdgartownMake the bridge one way - 2 lanes - one for passenger drop off and one for vehicle reservations. All would exit up the hill behind pie in the sky.
I was going to go off
Sara Piazza EdgartownI was going to go off overnight one night this summer, just for fun, but I canceled my reservation because I absolutely do not want to deal with the mess in Woods Hole. Trapped like a rat.
I think there's validity in
Dan Cooper BostonI think there's validity in many of these comments, it's not either/or. There is simply too much MV traffic - too many visitors, too many of them bringing cars, too much demand for too many tradespeople and daily workers who can't afford to live where they work. The SSA is handling a lot here, and mostly pretty well. But that doesn't make the placement of the terminal building apocalyptically dumb, as well as dangerous. Especially since online ticketing and off-site reservation facilities have rendered it mostly obsolete. Have you gone in the temporary one lately? No one's in there.
I agree about there being too
IDC9I agree about there being too much traffic heading to and from Martha's Vineyard, especially in peak season. The Steamship Authority is far from perfect, but they do a mostly decent job at handling all of the island's vehicle traffic and much of its passenger traffic. That being said, they could use some help. I wonder if it might be worth having HyLine, SeaStreak, or the Island Queen run an expanded Martha's Vineyard timetable that would start early (5am or 6am), run all day (frequently with no long gaps in the schedule), and keep going until late (11pm or midnight, maybe 1am) in order to give daily workers, people heading to and from appointments, and tourists alike more travel options while potentially giving the Steamship Authority a bit of a breather.
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