SSA Considers Ticket Fare Cut

Monies Saved by New Bedford's Refusal to Run Ferry Service
from State Pier May Mean Lower Prices for Islanders

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

The decision by the city of New Bedford early this year to cancel
Steamship Authority ferry service in and out of the State Pier there has
saved the public boat line substantial amounts of money - and the
savings may soon translate to reduced fares for Island residents.

"I think we can assume no rate increase, and we may propose
certain rate reductions" for next year, said SSA chief executive
officer Fred C. Raskin during the monthly boat line meeting yesterday
morning. The comment came during a discussion of budget policy for the
coming year.

Held in the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven, the meeting
drew a small crowd of about 40 Vineyard residents and public officials.
A new plan to make boat line ferries more user-friendly for people with
disabilities and new policy to cement a spirit of cooperation between
the SSA and the port of Vineyard Haven were two of the central agenda
items for the day.

Mr. Raskin's report at the outset on the healthy state of boat
line finances also sparked a wider discussion about rates later in the
meeting. Revenues are up, expenses are down and cash is well up for the
first four months of the year, Mr. Raskin said in an operations report
that is now a regular feature of the monthly boat line meetings.

Vineyard SSA governor Kathryn A. Roessel put a proposal on the table
to reduce excursion fares for Island residents next year.

"We're going to save at least $1.2 million this year
because the city of New Bedford is not allowing us to use the State
Pier. The financial reports are excellent and this can be tracked in
part to [former New Bedford city solicitor George] Leontire," said
Ms. Roessel.

Five months ago, New Bedford officials pulled the plug on ongoing
freight service to and from the Vineyard, and also on a plan for a pilot
high-speed passenger ferry.

Falmouth governor and board chairman Galen Robbins noted that the
boat line has spent $6.6 million in the last two years on New Bedford
service.

Mr. Raskin said it is important to look at the whole picture, and he
reminded the board that the full cash reserves will be needed in the
immediate years ahead for major capital projects like refurbishing the
Oak Bluffs terminal and replacing the ferry Islander.

"I am hoping to reduce rates, but you have to look at all the
numbers together; it's very dangerous to select single item
issues," Mr. Raskin said. "But I will also say that from
what I have learned in the short time that I have been here, that
excursion rates are a priority for most people - nothing is
clearer in my mind - and that is very much number one.

"I don't think that anyone around here would say that
the rate structure is what it should be," he said.

Robert Sawyer, a Tisbury resident and member of the Dukes County
Commission, urged the board to reduce excursion fares.

"We want, we need, we plead for a substantial reduction in
excursion fares," he said.

The board heard a report from Anson Krickl, chairman of Islanders
for Universal Access, who submitted a list of recommendations for
improvements on boat line ferries, developed after a detailed survey
done by the universal access group last year.

"The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law in
1990," Mr. Krickl said. "Besides improving the ferry ride
for those we represent, we will also help you to comply with that
act."

The report has already prompted one change: Boat line managers
announced that the SSA web site was updated this week to better reflect
information about ferry access for people with disabilities.

Also yesterday, the board voted to approve a policy to comply with
the spirit of the Tisbury harbor district of critical planning concern
(DCPC). Crafted by Ms. Roessel, the policy means that the SSA will hold
public hearings to get public comment on any changes or new projects
that affect the Tisbury harbor. Because it is a state agency, the boat
line is exempt from the rules of a DCPC.

But boat line general counsel Steven Sayers said the voluntary
compliance policy is perfectly legal, and he, too, praised the intent.
"We do agree with the spirit of the DCPC, and it is a very good
planning tool," he said.

There was more than one reference to the late Edmond G. Coogan, a
former Tisbury selectman who spearheaded the Tisbury harbor DCPC.

"Ed really steered the ship and got this thing going and it
was wonderful community effort," said Tisbury selectman Tristan
Israel.

All three Tisbury selectmen attended the meeting, as did West
Tisbury selectman Glenn Hearn and Mr. Sawyer. Notably absent were
several Island officials who have been vocal critics of the boat line in
recent months, and have traveled to Boston to lobby state legislators on
behalf of the city of New Bedford.

"We should all work together now that George is not here
- but he's lurking out there, believe me," quipped Nat
Lowell, a Nantucket trucker who regularly attends boat line meetings.
The remark drew scattered laughter.

Tisbury resident Art Flathers and Oak Bluffs resident Robert
Iadicicco, who also regularly attend SSA meetings, peppered the board
with questions throughout the meeting. Mr. Flathers, a frequent critic
of boat line financial management, began to reiterate his request for a
detailed accounting of revenues on the Nantucket and Vineyard runs.
Among other things, Mr. Flathers has advocated recently for breaking the
SSA into two separate boat lines.

Board members stood their ground in responding to Mr. Flathers.

"Art, the legislature, in its wisdom, set this up as one boat
line," Ms. Roessel said. "It would be possible to run two
separate boat lines, however, and I know that you think the Vineyarders
pay more than their share, but personally I don't see it that way.

"But if you want two boat lines, then you should go to the
legislature and lobby them for two boat lines," she continued.
"Art, the line forms to the right."

Nantucket governor Grace Grossman added her own comments.

"Mr. Flathers, you have put so much in the paper and have
given us so many written reports, but some of them are not true,"
she began. Mr. Flathers tried to interrupt her, but the Nantucket
governor cut him off.

"It's my nickel, Mr. Flathers, and I want to say that
you have been unfair to Nantucket," Mrs. Grossman said.

Then the CEO jumped into the discussion, noting that SSA critics
examine the complicated subject of cost allocation differently than do
boat line managers.

"How we allocate expenses on the routes - we don't
do it according to where the asset was intended to be used, we do it
where the asset was actually used," Mr. Raskin said. "I know
you don't think we should do it that way, Art, but we do.

"This is a partnership," he added, "and, as Cassie
said, the legislature has established this partnership. Otherwise we get
into the business - which Art, you do - of cherry-picking
the best and ignoring the worst."

Mrs. Grossman concluded: "It's too bad that a few people
are trying to be divisive and want to split the two Islands. As long as
I can remember the two Islands have been together and we lived in peace
and happiness."