<p>For the third straight year the Steamship Authority carried a record number of cars and trucks on the Vineyard route this summer.
For the third straight year the Steamship Authority carried a record number of cars and trucks on the Vineyard route this summer, part of an ongoing trend that shows more vehicles are traveling to the Island while foot traffic remains relatively flat.
The SSA provided traffic statistics this week for cars, trucks and passengers carried on the Vineyard route since 1993.
With some blips along the way, the numbers show a general upward trend in all types of traffic on the Vineyard route.
From June 1 through August 31 this year, a total of 157,114 cars were carried on the Vineyard route, up from 152,825 for the same period the previous year, and 150,595 the year before that. Both 2016 and 2017 were record-breaking years for cars carried on the Vineyard route.
In August alone this year the SSA carried 57,518 cars, an increase of more than 3,000 cars from August 2017. June and July also saw more automobiles carried, although the increases were somewhat smaller.
Last year the SSA carried a total 415,753 cars on the Vineyard route, which operates between Woods Hole and Vineyard Haven year-round, and between Woods Hole and Oak Bluffs from spring through fall.
Truck traffic is also on an upward trend, with 38,792 trucks carried in June, July and August, compared with 37,910 trucks carried in the same period in 2017.
Last year a total of 136,706 trucks were carried on the Vineyard route.
Car and truck traffic combined reflect similar upward trends. In 2010, 490,129 cars and trucks were carried on the Vineyard route. Seven years later in 2017, the boat line carried 552,459 cars and trucks.
Longer-term trends for truck traffic are harder to evaluate since in 2009 the SSA ended its previous practice of counting trucks of less than 20 feet in length as automobiles.
Traffic statistics show that passenger traffic has seen up-and-down trends through the years but stayed mostly flat in the past two years.
In June, July and August of this year the boat line carried 1,034,008 passengers on the Vineyard route, a small dip from the previous year when ferries carried 1,049,493 people.
Despite the slight decrease, this summer was the third highest for passenger traffic in SSA history. (Passenger traffic peaked in 2001 and 2002, then fell sharply before climbing again in roughly 2008.)
In 2017 2,466,548 passengers were carried on the Vineyard route.
Year to date the boat line has carried 167,139 automobiles, 66,202 trucks and 926,000 passengers.
SSA general manager Robert Davis said the increase in vehicle traffic can be tracked directly to added capacity on the Vineyard route. He said the freight ferry Sankaty, which previously served as a backup vessel, was put on the regular schedule this summer, allowing for an additional 15 trips per week.
“We’ve been responding to demand,” Mr. Davis told the Gazette.
He said he does not anticipate adding more trips in the future. “At this point we’re at capacity. We don’t have any other places to berth a vessel,” Mr. Davis said.
Historically, growth in ferry traffic and capacity on ferries has been a sticking point for Islanders. In 1997, voters in every Island town passed a nonbinding referendum to restrict cars carried on SSA ferries to 1995 levels. Numbers released this week show that 368,539 cars were carried that year.
In 2003 the topic surfaced again when the boat line began planning for the replacement of the ferry Islander with the Island Home, a vessel with more carrying capacity (76 cars compared to 50 on the Islander). At the time, former general manager Wayne Lamson assured residents that the authority would remove other vessels from the route to keep carrying capacity the same.
What eventually happened was different. Communications director Sean Driscoll said this week that every year from 2010 to 2017 the SSA added more trips on the Vineyard route to accommodate demand. He said that meant 1,200 additional trips.
Mr. Davis said senior managers come up with next year’s schedule based on demand, and at this point he said he does not plan to increase the number of trips.
“Our proposed summer schedules for next year are the same as this year,” he said. “We aren’t talking about adding trips at this point.”
Comments
Bad news, the traffic will
Gabrielle West TisburyBad news, the traffic will just get worse.
Couldn't agree more! Coney
ECS EdgartownCouldn't agree more! Coney Island is around the corner; it you doubt it take a look at the parking lot to the east of South Beach under the wonderful stewardship of the Trustees.
I walked down the Trustee’s
JeanI walked down the Trustee’s beach a few years ago. Cars packed close together, bringing tents, table, big speakers and large coolers. All the comforts of home piled on the beach. Not such great stewards of the beach..
The next Time we will to go M
William Pedro Monteiro (deaf) Wareham,MA 02571-1936The next Time we will to go M,Vinyard Island boatway for some we try visit&vacation that plan next year's 2019/20 ;;;?
It’s a shame there wasn’t
JM 02539It’s a shame there wasn’t anything binding about the ‘97 referrendum and that Wayne Lamson’s claim that carrying capacity would be kept flat went out the window. This is a sticky issue....at some point we’re going to need to deal with the conflict that exists between the almighty dollar and conservation / preservation / character of the Island.
The island lost it's
Mike EdgThe island lost it's character years ago. It used to be quaint.
We need to seriously consider
R Scott Patterson EdgartownWe need to seriously consider limiting the number of vehicles brought to the island in the summer months. The congestion is making life here in July/August miserable and at some point people are going to decide to vacation elsewhere. I started coming to MV in the early 80's in August, I have no doubt that my family would have come once and never come back had the traffic been like it is now.
I couldn't agree more. I
Jessica Curran SaugertiesI couldn't agree more. I grew up on the Vineyard and currently live in New York. I remember my grandparents complaining about the need to limit vehicles, but this is the first year I've ever felt that the pleasure of visiting the island is not worth the frustration. I still have family there, but may give up the beach and just come in off-off season.
"It's so crowded, nobody goes
D. Giordano"It's so crowded, nobody goes there anymore."
I read earlier in the year
Diane NJ (but 3x year visitor)I read earlier in the year about the SSA travails and was apprehensive as my crossing approached on 8/25/18.
However I thought the SSA was totally professional (as usual) with boarding the vehicles. I was able to get on an earlier boat and same for the round trip two weeks later.
SSA does a yeoman's job supporting the customers and managing the boats.
Will see them again at end of October - great job guys !
Would be interesting if the
skip OBWould be interesting if the data could be isolated to show the discrete number of visitors coming and going versus Islanders' round trips. Same for passengers, deleting those who come over daily to work -- the number of whom possibly inflate any perceived growth in tourism.
Important quotes from the
A vote for reasonable access... West TisburyThis is from the 2008 MV Commission Study on the Vineyard economy: "Hospitality (food and accommodations), Retail, construction, and real estate are the four key industries that make up more than half of the Island’s economy...Tourist-related sectors (retail, accommodation and food service, arts, recreation, and entertainment) represent 37% of employment (2008) but only 28% of wages."
In other sources it looks like those retail and tourism figures have actually declined in providing wages and income since 2008. But while tourism may still acct for 28% of wages, the owners of businesses in that industry seem to call all the shots in demanding more and more people have access to the Island. What about the rest of us? Civil servants? Realtors? Financial Services? Other private employers and employees? Certainly we want retailers and tourist-based businesses to earn their living and prosper -- but it begins to be at the expense of others - whose lives become more and more frenetic, difficult to manage, crowded...not pleasant -- to the point of this summer becoming miserable.
Can we please redo this study? We need some balance here -- if we don't stop unlimited access we are on the verge of taking away what people come for -- a beautiful Island with a terrific community, wonderful events and terrific access to natural beauty.
I agree. Limits have to be
diane edgartownI agree. Limits have to be set on the number of ferries. This summer was the easiest of all to get a ferry off/on whenever, because they were running all kinds of boats in the name of fare. Take a look the vineyard is all about the dollar. It will destroy from within if the same mentality continues. When was the last time any building, addition, was denied. If we are going to grow, we need to have a plan. There has to be a major plan in place for centralization of post office, grocery shopping, etc....Take back the beaches. The trustees closing the beach this summer was ridiculous. They could have done their job patrolling instead of sitting and letting every infraction of the rules take place. A total disgrace.
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Everyone wants to limit the
WashAbhorred EdgartownEveryone wants to limit the cars that others bring over and back. I believe the SSA has also pointed out that a lot of traffic growth is more Islanders (first and second homeowners) going off and on more often. Maybe it's time to limit the number of discounted trips?
There's a lot more traffic in February and March nowadays - that's not tourism.
The traffic on MV is a
R Scott Patterson EdgartownThe traffic on MV is a nightmare in July/August, it isn't in Feb/March and that is tourism! It doesn't matter that there is more traffic the rest of the year because the current infrastructure can deal with it. In July and August the infrastructure can't handle it which is why the number of vehicles brought to the island needs to be limited in some way during those two summer months.
It's a two-edged sword. If we
Sara Piazza EdgartownIt's a two-edged sword. If we limit the number of cars that go back and forth we are also limiting our ability to get a reservation off and on the island when ever we would like to go anywhere. I also agree that the traffic issue is not entirely caused by tourists. Once Upon a Time most of us lived Within each town and could walk to do our errands. Now we are spread out everywhere and more people have to drive to do their daily errands. There is also a different attitude About the way we live here on the island. Once Upon a Time if you lived in Edgartown, you did everything in Edgartown. Shopping, school, work, doctor, dentist, Etc. Once upon a time it was a rare treat to go to Vineyard Haven. Now, most of us think nothing of driving all over the island anytime we feel like it. the only way to fix the traffic problem is for people to actually stop driving their cars. It's the old conundrum of wanting the roads to be clear so that we can drive freely, but the minute the road is clear the road will fill immediately up with cars. We need to think more in terms of living locally, and I don't mean local as in we are all one big happy Island, I mean local as in staying closer to home and developing services that more people can either walk or ride a bike to rather then removing services from our towns and scattering them out where people must get into a car in order to get to them. We need to develop a habit of walking or biking rather than always reaching for the car keys and driving wherever we have to go. Thank you.
Once the decision to limit
George Stein EdgartownOnce the decision to limit transportation is created you generate law suits. Viewing the over crowding as an opportunity to generate humor is a more sane approach. Housing is the real issue. Posting ads stating preferences on tenants are prosecutable offenses in other parts of even the commonwealth. Choice of sex and other stated prerequisites are unlawful. Keep filling those boats ! Fix the schools and the real amenities actual residents need for their families. Not every season has prosperity kids.
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