The operators of the high-speed ferry between Martha’s Vineyard and New Bedford want to abandon the service in the winter months, following a recession-induced collapse in the numbers of riders.

New England Fast Ferry manager Mike Glasfeld told Steamship Authority governors this week that the viability of the winter operation depended on contractors commuting to the Vineyard. Last winter, because of the slowdown in construction and other activity, the ferry moved an average of one quarter of the passengers it needed to break even.

At their August board meeting, held Tuesday in Oak Bluffs, boat line governors learned that the high-speed ferry operators want to stop service for the four winter months from Dec. 1 to March 31.

But they deferred any action after New Bedford governor John Tierney said he understood the New Bedford City Council was looking at ways to help the operator out.

He offered no specifics, and later Mr. Glasfeld said there was no firm plan.

“From what they have told me, the mayor felt the town had done a lot to help set up the service, and wanted to do what it could to maintain it. They are talking about a brainstorming session,” Mr. Glasfeld said.

“But I think that’s all the information any of us have at this point.”

Mr. Glasfeld said last winter the service moved an average of just five passengers per departure.

“It has not always been that way; in prior years we were paying our bills. But last winter, at the climax of the economic decline, ridership — which depends largely, if not quite wholly on contractors — really fell apart.

“We’re burning 135 pounds of fuel per person to get them back and forth. Apart from anything else, you start to feel pretty bad environmentally speaking.

“At the current fuel rate we would need about 20 people per trip — 40 per round trip — to break even,” he said.

Tuesday’s SSA board meeting also absorbed some bad news about its own traffic numbers. June traffic was down sharply, a decline largely attributable to 18 days of rain in that month.

The good news was that savings in fuel and other operating expenses largely offset the decline in revenue. And preliminary figures pointed to a much better July.

Passenger numbers on the Vineyard route were up 2.1 per cent, or some 7,000 people, compared with the same month last year.

The number of cars also was up 4.3 per cent, although the number of large trucks was down almost 10 per cent.