Steamship Authority governors this week approved an operating budget for the coming year that includes slight fare increases for automobiles to and from the Vineyard.
Meeting Tuesday in Woods Hole, the board approved a budget with operating expenses of more than $83 million, a 4.1 per cent increase over estimated total operating costs for 2012.
Steamship Authority governors this week announced plans for fare increases on the Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket routes in order to compensate for rising fuel costs and other expenses in next year’s budget.
At the monthly meeting of the boat line governors Tuesday in Nantucket, a preliminary look at next year’s operating budget showed a budget shortfall of $1.5 million, according to a meeting summary.
As the Island starts to transition from summer crowds to autumn quiet, the Steamship Authority is reporting that traffic was up compared with last year.
“The summer was good; the traffic has been good,” Steamship Authority general manager Wayne Lamson told the Gazette this week.
June passenger traffic to the Vineyard was up by 4.7 per cent; July passenger traffic saw a decrease of 1.9 per cent; and August traffic was up by 7.2 per cent compared with 2011, according to Steamship Authority data. Passenger traffic is up 4.6 per cent for the year to date.
Amid a long list of caveats about assumptions and the need for more data, Steamship Authority treasurer Wayne Lamson told the boat line board of governors yesterday that he is in the neutral zone when it comes to the financial impacts of the new service model for future ferry operations to the two Islands.
"I feel that we should continue to explore the viability of the service model. But a lot more information needs to be gathered, and certain assumptions need to be validated," Mr. Lamson said at the monthly boat line meeting in Woods Hole yesterday.
There are no ripples or wake anymore, but the impact of no Schamonchi and no fast ferry from New London, Conn., has hit some businesses in Tisbury hard, especially along Beach Road where the ferries used to dock and disgorge tourists by the hundreds.
NANTUCKET - - The people of Nantucket had their crack at the
podium this week, turning out more than 150 strong to urge a special
governor's ferry task force to protect the Steamship Authority and
their lifeline.
"The rate-payers of the Islands are not responsible for
reviving the economy of New Bedford. Folks, the Steamship Authority is
not an entitlement program," declared Steve Tornovish, a member of
the SSA financial advisory board from Nantucket.
Cape and Islands state Rep. Eric T. Turkington was in no mood to mince words Tuesday at a committee hearing on Beacon Hill as he openly challenged both the author and the findings of the special governor's task force report calling for an overhaul of the Steamship Authority board of governors.
The surprise decision by the Steamship Authority governors last
month to buy the New Bedford passenger ferry Schamonchi was pitched as a
sound business decision for the public boat line, but an internal
financial analysis done by the SSA shows that in fact the ferry is
expected to lose large amounts of money.
The boat line board of governors voted last month to buy the
Schamonchi for $1.75 million.
The Falmouth Steamship Authority governor checked the city of New
Bedford in its own game of ferry chess yesterday, refusing to honor an
11th-hour request from the Whaling City to extend a trial high-speed
ferry project, after the city solicitor abruptly pulled the plug on the
project two weeks ago.
Special Task Force Headed By Retired Judge Rudolph Kass Begins Deliberations on Future Boat Line in New Bedford
By JULIA WELLS
A special state task force charged with studying ferry and
transportation problems on the Cape and Islands will hold a set of
public hearings beginning next week in New Bedford, and continuing
through the month of February on Nantucket, Cape Cod and Martha's
Vineyard.
