Boatline Eases Coupon Rules

Steamship Authority Governors Adopt New Ticket Book Policy,
Encouraging Foot Passengers to Use Discounted Fares

By IAN FEIN

Steamship Authority discount ticket book holders will now be able to
share their passenger coupons with friends and family members and use
more than one ticket on a single ferry trip, according to new
regulations adopted by the boat line this week. Both practices were
previously disallowed.

The changes came with a unanimous vote at the monthly meeting of the
Steamship Authority board of governors on Tuesday morning in Woods Hole,
where board members finished their business in just over an hour.

New Bedford representative David J. Oliveira took over as chairman
of the governing board this week, marking the first time in roughly half
a century that someone from the Whaling City has held that position. New
Bedford was dropped as a Steamship Authority port in 1960, but the state
legislature in 2002 reinstated its position with the boat line and
expanded the board of governors from three to five members by adding
voting seats for Barnstable and New Bedford.

By statute, the chairmanship of the board rotates among towns every
year, making 2007 the first with New Bedford at the helm.

Mr. Oliveira opened the meeting on Tuesday with a moment of silence
for former Steamship Authority chief executive officer Fred Raskin, who
died last month. Mr. Raskin, 58, headed the boat line for two years
before resigning in 2004, and helped arrange high-speed ferry service
between New Bedford and the Vineyard.

"[Mr. Raskin] was very important to me, and my home port of
New Bedford," Mr. Oliveira said.

Steamship Authority director of engineering and maintenance Carl R.
Walker on Tuesday provided the board meeting with an update on capital
projects, including the Island Home, the highly anticipated new vessel
for the Vineyard route. Mr. Walker said the vessel is set to begin sea
trials off the Gulf Coast today, and that he expects it to arrive in
Massachusetts around the first week of February.

The timeline was delayed slightly by the need to fix some minor
issues with the engine controls. Mr. Walker assured that the delay was
typical, and not a cause for concern.

"These things happen when you're trying to start up a
new plant," said Mr. Walker, who flew to Mississippi with other
SSA employees on Wednesday to accompany the vessel on its sea trials.
"Obviously the boat won't be coming north until I'm
happy."

Mr. Walker said boat line captains have also been conducting sea
trials with the new Nantucket high-speed ferry Iyanough, which is
expected to officially begin the Hyannis-Nantucket run at the end of
March. He said the new ferry will be a welcome replacement for the
Flying Cloud, which was plagued with costly mechanical failures during
its short tenure with the boat line.

"I think [Iyanough] is a beautiful boat and it's going
to work well for us," Mr. Walker said.

Policy changes for the coupon books sparked the most discussion on
Tuesday, as the governing board steps up efforts to increase their
popularity and use. The discount tickets save administrative costs for
the boat line, and also provide immediate up-front funds.

Prior to this week, the passenger coupons were non-transferrable,
meaning only one ticket could be used from the book per trip. A husband
and wife traveling together, for example, would be required to have
separate books in order to take advantage of the discount fares. SSA
senior managers acknowledged that the regulations were both inconvenient
and difficult to enforce.

Board members approved a minor price increase to accompany the
relaxed policies, bringing the cost of a 10-ride book for the Vineyard
route from the current $52 to $55. The coupons, which do not include a
50-cent embarkation fee, are still far cheaper than basic passenger
tickets - at $5.50 per trip, instead of $7.

Nantucket boat line governor H. Flint Ranney on Tuesday wanted to go
one step further and eliminate expiration dates on the coupons, which
currently expire within one year on the Vineyard and two years on
Nantucket. Mr. Ranney noted that Hy-Line Cruises and Nantucket Airlines
do not impose expiration dates on their coupon books.

"To keep up with the competition, I think we have to do it.
And we also have to market them better," Mr. Ranney said. "I
don't think a lot of people know about it."

While less than 12,000 discount tickets were used on Nantucket
vessels in the 12-month period ending Aug. 31, almost 200,000 coupons
were collected on the Vineyard route during that same period -
representing roughly ten per cent of total passenger traffic.

Falmouth boat line governor Robert Marshall said he supported
increasing the expiration time period, but he opposed abandoning the
expiration date altogether. He warned that savvy travelers could
purchase multiple books to hedge against future rate increases.

In the end, board members agreed to adopt the recommended policy
changes immediately, and to revisit the expiration date at their next
meeting.

The board will also hear a year-end financial report at its next
meeting. Steamship Authority officials this week said they expect to
finish in the black for 2006, but will not know for certain until after
all of the December books have been closed. Net operating income through
November stood at $8.8 million, some $1.25 million higher than projected
for the first 11 months.

In other business, boat line governors awarded a $486,000 contract
to a Boston firm that will install an automated parking system
integrating the various Steamship Authority lots. Some improved features
of the new system will include the ability to take credit cards for
payment, the installation of intercoms at each lane for assistance and
convenient access controls for permit holders.

One of five companies to bid on the contract, McGann Associates Inc.
of Boston came in with the best offer. Steamship Authority officials
said they expected the system to save the boat line approximately
$100,000 a year in cashier salaries that will no longer be needed.

Boat line general manager Wayne Lamson said the new parking system
will also allow for growth and expansion in the future, perhaps by
installing automated pay machines on the ferries or by creating a
parking reservation system on the Steamship Authority Web site.

The board of governors appeared pleased.

"This is a terrific start to a process that we should be very
aggressive about," Mr. Marshall said. "This more
sophisticated system will offer more cost-savings, which will result in
lower rates for our traveling customers."