Reliant on summer tourism for their economies, the Cape and Islands have far more that unites than divides them, from a lack of affordable housing to looming climate changes.

Against serious issues of sustainability, the incessant griping from a group of Falmouth residents about early morning truck traffic on the Woods Hole Road seems petty and parochial.

The complaints bubbled up again at a public hearing held early this week as the Steamship Authority begins to prepare its 2022 summer schedules for the Martha’s Vineyard route.

The ongoing bone of contention is over the 5:30 a.m. freight ferry which has operated for many years from Woods Hole to the Vineyard in the summer months. Residents along the Woods Hole Road want the SSA to eliminate the early trip, claiming noise from the trucks is a nuisance, waking them in the wee hours, compromising their health.

It’s time for the Vineyard to push back. The loudest voices in the room don’t necessarily represent the majority.

Eliminating a longstanding ferry run that carries necessary goods to the Island in the peak summer months would have cascading consequences on the Vineyard, creating a backlog for trucks that depend on making early deliveries before our own narrow streets become clogged with traffic.

Early truck deliveries are the norm everywhere, and on the Island they help with summer traffic management to boot. But beyond that, blaming the Steamship Authority and the Vineyard for every truck that comes through Falmouth only serves to foster divisions at a time when what’s needed is thoughtful dialogue on both sides of the sound.

In fact, presented in a different way, managing growth and the traffic that by necessity accompanies it is a topic that Islanders could warm to.

The Steamship Authority is at capacity in the peak summer months and has not expanded service despite pressure to do so. How to manage existing traffic flow and map the future are real issues for all the port communities.

Why not clear the slate for a fresh start, and get transportation planners at the Cape Cod Commission and Martha’s Vineyard Commission involved in brainstorming creative solutions.

Because endless whining and harsh rhetoric aren’t going to get us where we need to go.