Despite an early season dip in ridership across the board for Martha’s Vineyard, the Steamship Authority is optimistic that the number of people and vehicles coming to the Island this summer is on the way up. 

The first five months of 2026 were slightly sluggish compared to 2025 — something management of the ferry line attributes to the bad weather at the onset of the year. Advanced bookings for the Vineyard from July to mid-October, however, have all seen a small bump, likely offsetting any of the slow off-season.

“It was just kind of a slow start to the year,” Steamship general manager Alex Kryska said in an interview earlier this month. “It seems to be picking up now and getting us back on track.” 

Every category of ridership on the Vineyard has seen decreases in the first five months of the year.

From January to May, the number of passengers on the Woods Hole-Vineyard route dropped by nearly 46,000, from just under 729,000 people in 2025 to 683,000 in 2026, or a 6.3 decrease. 

Automobile and truck traffic also fell off by about 7,000, or 3.8 per cent — going from 187,721 vehicles in 2025 to 180,558 in 2026.

The blizzards that knocked out service for days this winter and other storms were largely to blame for the drop, said Ted Gavin, the Vineyard's representative on the ferry line board. But they aren't something that the Steamship Authority can really control, he added.

“I’m not particularly concerned with those numbers at this point in the year,” Mr. Gavin said. “Right now, it looks like things are headed in the right direction, year-to-year.” 

Nantucket saw modest increases in traffic for automobiles, trucks and passengers aboard the regular ferry; the fast ferry saw an 8.1 per cent drop.

Still, those percentage points can get wiped out quickly by busy days in the high season. The next three months all have stronger advanced bookings than the same time frame in 2025, resulting in a modest 1.4 per cent bump between mid-June and mid-October. 

“We get a good strong weekend or the summer, and that storm in February is being totally forgotten,” Mr. Kryska said. 

The number of vehicles coming to and from the Island can only go up so much, as schedules have largely remained the same over the years. This year though, there is a chance for some growth given the three new, larger freight ferries that have been added to the fleet. 

The Steamship is still working out the kinks though on the loading and unloading at all the terminals though, meaning large jumps are unlikely.

“Like any new vessel, they have their challenges that we’re working through, as far as loading them and unloading them,” said Mr. Kryska.