After a petition protesting rate hikes collected 2,879 signatures in less than three weeks, the Steamship Authority is standing by a set of fare increases that took effect earlier this month.
The boat line board of governors addressed the petition and listened to its supporters at their regular meeting in Woods Hole on Tuesday, but took no action to roll back hikes that added $2 to the cost of a round-trip excursion trip and 50 cents to the adult passenger fare.
In another increase approved in the fall, the governors also raised daily parking fees in the Falmouth lots from $13 to $15 from May to September and from $10 to $13 in the shoulder seasons (April 1 to May 15 and Sept. 15 to Oct. 31). From Nov. 1 to March 31 the daily rate of $10 stays the same. The increases are designed to close an expected budget shortfall caused by rising labor, ferry maintenance and fuel costs.
Since then, fuel prices have fallen dramatically and petitioners have asked the SSA to pass those savings along to ratepayers and repeal the rate hike.
At Tuesday’s meeting, SSA general manager Wayne Lamson explained why, after reviewing the petition and current oil price forecasts, he still thinks the SSA needs the extra revenue that higher fares bring. First, he said the SSA will have to spend $1.3 million more than was budgeted for vessel and dock maintenance in 2015. Further, he argued that fuel costs are unpredictable.
“We still don’t know where crude oil prices will end up this summer and beyond,” Mr. Lamson said.
He added that any leftover savings would be transferred to the replacement fund and applied toward future capital improvements.
“I want to say we value everyone’s opinion on this matter, and I respect Todd Rebello for raising the issue . . .” Mr. Lamson said.
Mr. Rebello, an Oak Bluffs resident, posted the petition to the grassroots campaign site Moveon.org on the first of January.
On Tuesday, he made his case for lowered rates and challenged the “spin” he said the SSA was putting on the numbers. “That fuel savings . . . is more than enough to cover the shortfall and the reason you raised the rates,” he said.
In addition to the yearly operating costs, the SSA is also financing the construction of a new $40 million vessel, a new parking facility and a new vessel maintenance facility. Reconstruction of the Woods Hole terminal building and adjoining slips is also coming down the pike.
Mr. Rebello questioned whether Islanders who rely on the ferry are in favor of these costly expenditures. But Vineyard governor and board chairman Marc Hanover refuted that claim.
“Those same people want reliable boats, clean boats, reliable terminals,” Mr. Hanover said. “They want the Steamship Authority to function at its best capacity for them.”
According to a tally provided by West Tisbury resident Thomas Hodgson, 60 per cent of people who added their names to the petition were Vineyarders.
He said 13 per cent were from Nantucket and 14 per cent from elsewhere in the commonwealth.
As of this week, Mr. Rebello said West Tisbury selectman Richard Knabel, Tisbury selectman Tristan Israel and Oak Bluffs selectman Gregory Coogan had also endorsed it. “People on the Vineyard are increasingly stressed by the high cost of travel back and forth,” Mr. Hodgson said, especially in light of rates that have been “relentlessly increasing year after year.”
Mr. Rebello and other petitioners also put a wider frame on the discussion, calling for more transparency among the SSA ranks.
“Island voices need to be heard,” Mr. Rebello said.
Mr. Hodgson agreed.
“One of the big perceptions out there is that the SSA is an opaque organization that does not want to be bothered with public comment,” he said. He said information pertaining to boat line operations is not accessible to the public. Just this week, Mr. Hodgson said he spent three hours trying to find out how to get a free pass to cross attend a Steamship Authority meeting. Vineyarders who want to attend a meeting can get complimentary passenger tickets at the Vineyard Haven terminal prior to boarding the ferry.
Vineyarder Warren Gosson said he had taken advantage of the free passage and would make a hospital call while he was off-Island. “We need to accommodate and make some recommendations for people in dire need,” he said.
Mr. Hanover promised to make minutes and other information available to the public on the SSA website.
“We are also going to clean up the website so that you can find all the information of who you can contact for what,” he said.
The SSA is already working on a newspaper insert that will explain rate structures, he added.
Mr. Hanover plans to host a dialogue with Vineyard riders on the Island in March.
Though most of the public testimony addressed perceived problems, it was peppered with praise for the boat line.
“Again and again there is appreciation for the people who work for the Steamship Authority, for the people who work on the boats, for you guys, for sitting in these meetings, for making sure the boats mostly run on time,” Mr. Hodgson said.
Still, the public’s overarching message was one of critique:
“You also have some serious failings as an organization,” Mr. Hodgson said, but added that his goal was to encourage the SSA to better serve its ridership.
The meeting began with a moment of silence to recognize the recent death of the former Falmouth governor, Catherine Norton. Mrs. Norton died in died Dec. 22 after battling cancer. She was 73 and had been the Falmouth SSA governor for about one year.
Though she served for a short time, Mr. Hanover said Mrs. Norton had been “very active on the board, and very instrumental in completing the building study for the Woods Hole Terminal and the design concept and wonderful to work with.”
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