The Steamship Authority drew nearer to a final decision on its 2026 operating budget Tuesday morning, when the port council voted unanimously to recommend the proposed $162 million draft spending plan for approval by the board of governors next week.
The Steamship Authority drew nearer to a final decision on its 2026 operating budget Tuesday morning, when the port council voted unanimously to recommend the proposed $162 million draft spending plan for approval by the board of governors next week.
Increased costs for payroll, maintenance and information technology are among the largest drivers behind a projected $7.4 million budget gap, which the boat line aims to fill with fare increases.
“It’s a simple equation here. We gotta keep the boats running,” treasurer Mark Rozum told the council, which advises the board.
Port council members split 4-1 over the across-the-board slate of fare hikes, with Falmouth representative Robert Munier opposing.
Mr. Munier said he is voting against the rate adjustments for the second year in a row because he wants to see a larger increase to the Islander excursion vehicle fares, which haven’t gone up since 2021.
“We haven’t done anything to … correct that imbalance,” Mr. Munier said, noting that excursions are going up at the same rate as other fares and freight — roughly 5 per cent overall — despite having escaped the last three rounds of hikes.
“[It] effectively isn’t correcting anything, because it’s the same percentage increase across the other fare categories,” he said.
Excursion fares, which include one vehicle, two adults and two children, are set to rise by between $1.75 to $2.75 in each direction depending on time of year, bringing the total cost to as much as $111.50 roundtrip in the summer.
If the increase were to match inflation since 2021, Mr. Rozum said, the $1.75 increase would be $7.
As the Steamship Authority works to get a new reservation system up and running by next October, Steamship officials are considering several new potential options for fares in the future.
The new reservations system, now under development by Italian contractor E-Dea, will allow the boat line to redesign the excursion fare program so that it resists abuse and benefits the year-round Island residents it was designed for, Mr. Rozum said.
“If you’re an Island resident in this program, you [could] get a subscription of 12 reservations at this discount,” he said.
After the first 12 trips, Mr. Rozum said, the discount could be reduced for the next 12.
“It gives us different tools in the toolbox,” he said, adding that instead of the two adult and two child tickets that are automatically included in the current excursion rates, future reduced-rate trips could be charged only for the vehicle’s passengers who are traveling that day.
The E-Dea system also has the potential to create off-peak vehicle fares that could help fill the freight decks on less-popular trips, Mr. Rozum said, giving as an example the 9:30 p.m. departure from Martha’s Vineyard.
“It’s the trip of last resort, [so] we could discount that trip,” Mr. Rozum said.
During public comment Tuesday, Martha’s Vineyard resident Elizabeth O’Connor asked if Mr. Rozum had made any changes to the budget after hearing what Islanders had to say at last Thursday night’s forum in Oak Bluffs.
Mr. Rozum said he had not had time before the latest draft of the budget was circulated to port council members Friday, but that Steamship Authority staff are reviewing the advertising budget, which has drawn the ire of Vineyard residents who say the Island doesn’t need more cars.
“We’re still looking … but no adjustments were made in the advertising budget,” Mr. Rozum said.
Communications director Sean Driscoll noted that the authority does not target motorists with any of its $1.3 million advertising budget, more than half of which goes to promote the one-day round trip between Hyannis and Nantucket aboard the high-speed passenger ferry M/V Iyanough.
“It’s all [for] passenger traffic, nothing for vehicles,” Mr. Driscoll said.
The Steamship Authority board of governors is expected to vote on the 2026 budget at its Oct. 23 meeting, scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Tisbury emergency services facility on Spring street in Vineyard Haven.
Among other business Tuesday, general manager Robert Davis told the port council that while the third new freight ferry, M/V Monomoy, is in the water and ready for stability testing in Alabama, the federal government shutdown has suspended Coast Guard inspections, leaving the vessel in limbo for the time being.
“The U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Center is on furlough, and the project … is on hold as a result of that,” Mr. Davis said.
Chief operating officer Mark Amundsen said M/V Barnstable, the first of the three sister freighters to go into service, is having its propeller blades replaced after a routine inspection found damage to the blades’ leading edges, particularly on the port side.
The cause of the damage was still under review Tuesday, Mr. Amundsen said.
“We have subsequently inspected the... other boats on the [Hyannis-Nantucket] run, because we’ve had some dredging and other issues where the vessel was operated,” he said.
“We have inspected the Aquinnah, and they are clean, and also the M/V Woods Hole, and those blades are clean. So right now, we’re under review of where that could have happened,” Mr. Amundsen said.
Comments
Why is it that Washington
John EdgartownWhy is it that Washington state can run fleets of ferries for so much less. The cost for a vehicle ferry in Washington State varies by route and vehicle size, with a standard car and driver on the Seattle to Bainbridge Island route costing $19.70 one-way during peak hours. Steamship is a poor system and there are other models:
1. Publicly Funded System
WSF is operated by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). This means:
It's subsidized by state and federal funds, so the fares don’t need to cover 100% of operational costs.
The goal is public service, not profit.
2. Essential Infrastructure
For many communities (like those on Bainbridge Island, Vashon, or the San Juans), ferries are like bridges on water—essential for commuting, commerce, and access to the mainland.
To keep the state connected, the government keeps fares low.
If they were too expensive, it would harm island economies and low-income residents.
3. Volume and Efficiency
WSF is the largest ferry system in the U.S. by passengers and vehicles.
High volume helps spread costs across many riders, reducing the per-person fare.
Routes are relatively short and efficient to operate compared to long-distance or private ferries.
4. Tiered Pricing
WSF fares are designed to be fair and scaled:
Walk-on passengers pay less than vehicles.
Fares vary by route length and time of year.
Discounts exist for seniors, kids, and frequent riders.
5. Government Goals
Affordable transportation supports:
Tourism in places like the San Juans.
Environmental goals (getting people out of cars and reducing congestion).
Equity in access to transportation services.
And… drops the mic. Bravo!!!
Yes EdgAnd… drops the mic. Bravo!!!
There's a lot to like and
Harry Schwartz EdgartownThere's a lot to like and some to not like about the WSF system. First, it's not an authority. It's run by the state and they decide how it's run. Now the SSA is setup NOT to run at a deficit. If it has a deficit then the island towns have to make up the shortfall. Now a authority with a $175m budget were to have say a 5% shortfall comes to $8.75m. Next, the WSF have several high volume routes that help offset the lower volume routes.
We don't love the fares but I think the problem most of us have isn't the fares as much as the the way it's run. The staffing on the boats seems more than on other ferry services and they do seem at times to be less than professional in the way they conduct themselves. Perhaps that's do to the way people are recruited. The age of the staff seems to be much older than those in those positions on other ferry systems. Being a state agency might allow them to tap into state pension and health insurance systems that would encourage younger people to adopt the SSA as a career.
I would like to bring in another ferry system to look at. Société des traversiers du Québec. Being part of the french speaking world it's easy to overlook them but they are much closer than the Washington State Ferries. They are subsidized but not completely. Some are run as a public/private partnership. The fares are equivalent to our excursion fares but for longer trips.
They also run a free ferry that connects Route 138 across the Saguenay Fjord. Breathtaking views BTW.
In the end I don't think a state run ferry system would improve what we have by much. I do think the SSA treasurer had some interesting ideas but the idea to limit excursions to 12 a year is a non-starter.
How about weekend bus service to Main Street Falmouth and the Falmouth Mall? The current one is infrequent and doesn't always run on the weekends.
The current excursion fares
Christine SengeThe current excursion fares only benefit full-time residents on the island. Those of us who own property on the island and pay property taxes to the island towns for services, we don’t use, like the schools, get no break on the cost of the Ferry. I have to pay the same to bring my car over for five months that the person who was renting the house next-door on Airbnb for just a week. Those of us who own homes and pay property taxes on the Vineyard deserve some kind of break on the cost of bringing a car over. The many people like yourself who help support island services we don’t use to deserve a break.
It's interesting that the SSA
D Hodsdon VHIt's interesting that the SSA and others are talking only about fares, when there is a multi million dollar project going on in Woods Hole, nor are they talking about a past expansion of the buildings at the Palmer parking parking lot, nor the increased sizes of freight boats and ferries (that cost millions of dollars in their expanded sizes) that bring an obsessive amout of vehicles to the island. Where do those millions come from and were they really needed to be so big?
All of this money costs us all in aspects involving the island as well as falmouth and Woods Hole with undue traffic, and congestion, police, hospitals,etc, which is just one of the beginnings of the impact they have brought. And who pays for it? Islanders and those who are in the falmouth/Woods Hole areas. We are tired of the increasingly large volumes of vehicals, the rudeness, the pollution, the car crashes (mopeds too) and just about the quality of life changing drastically not for the better. This has been brought on by inconsiderate thinking by the SSA without consideration of how to maintain life within this small area sustainable.
Wait, isn’t the purpose of
Marie EdgartownWait, isn’t the purpose of the steamship to be a life line for the residents of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket???? Our fares should be free paid for by our taxes to MV and the State of Mass….Oh, that’s right they need new crazy sited, ugly, building etc. etc……And to think people are still voting for the same people…..There probably isn’t an answer to any of this madness it’s just the way of the world….March on
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