The ferry line announced the indefinite delay last week, saying it had technical challenges Tuesday during the Head Start summer reservation openings for residents on the Vineyard and Nantucket.
Continued technical problems with the Steamship Authority’s website have forced the ferry line to postpone the start of its summer vehicle reservations.
The ferry line announced the indefinite delay on Friday, Jan. 19. saying it had technical challenges Jan. 16 during the Head Start summer reservation openings for residents on the Vineyard and Nantucket. Summer reservations for the general public traveling to and from the Vineyard were supposed to open on Jan. 30.
Steamship general manager Robert Davis said new general reservation opening dates would not be announced until an internal review was completed, potentially putting vacationers’ summer plans in limbo. As of Thursday, the Steamship Authority was still working out the problems and did not have a new opening date.
Several Islanders struggled to make it through the reservation system for preferred and excursion customers, and officials said there were multiple points of failure. The Nantucket Current also reported that Nantucketers experienced error messages, non-working dropdown menus and long queues.
Early tests of the reservation system prior to opening did not show signs of concern, according to Mr. Davis.
“Each year our IT team takes preparing for these days very seriously, and they have been hard at work for several weeks performing multiple load tests of our reservation process and testing our waiting room product,” he said. “That preparation did not indicate there would be any issues for this week’s reservation openings.”
Summer is the busiest time of year for the Steamship Authority and opening day is something like Black Friday. Thousands of people rush to the website in search of prized vehicle reservations for the height of summer.
In recent years, that blitz has overloaded the reservation system and website, causing slowdowns and crashes, and the authority’s information technology systems have been a running concern for the Steamship’s board of governors.
Last month, a consultant said the boat line was working on an outdated reservation system from 1997. The outsourced product is at the source of the authority’s tech problems and its sole owner is about to retire.
“The vendor for the reservations system, which is really the core of all your technology, is exiting the market, and so now there’s a new urgency to really replace that,” consultant Thomas Innis of Gibbous LLC told the Steamship’s governing board in December.
James Malkin, the Vineyard’s representative on the Steamship governing board has been calling for the ferry line to upgrade its IT infrastructure. He said this week he is concerned that these issues continue to recur almost annually.
“I am very unhappy that it seems every year we run into problems that we’ve experienced in the past and haven’t resolved satisfactorily,” he said this week. “Particularly because this is a known event, with known and increasing volume that are going to happen on a certain date.”
The authority was expected to roll out a new website after general reservations opened, but Mr. Malkin also questioned if that should happen given the underlying issues.
“The website is based on an entire IT infrastructure that is apparently as problematic as some of us thought,” he said.
The hiccup could send people looking for a vacation destination elsewhere, but there was no evidence that was happening yet, said Annabelle Hunton, the owner of the Nobnocket Boutique Inn in Vineyard Haven and the president of the Martha’s Vineyard Lodging Association.
“Most properties have said they have not had push back from bookings yet,” she said. “Having said that, many people only book their hotel after securing a ferry reservation if they want to bring the car, therefore any noticeable difference in summer booking will be seen during the first week of February.”
Head Start reservation closed Monday and 24,440 reservations were made across both the Vineyard and Nantucket, a 4.5 per cent increase over 2023.
Mr. Davis said the delaying of general reservations will allow for an investigation and additional testing of the system.
“I want to be completely sure we have identified and addressed any remaining issues before we make the decision to open reservations,” he said. “These reservation opening days are the start of our customer’s summertime journey with us, and we always strive to make it as smooth a process as possible. We look forward to announcing new opening dates to our customers as soon as possible.”
Comments
Mr. Davis always says the
Kenny Oak BluffsMr. Davis always says the right things. But after so many years of problems repeating themselves under his leadership we just want our lifeline to work for us.
Is this the best we can do?
Dazed and ConfusedIs this the best we can do? All jokes aside regarding the SSA, but this is beyond acceptable. I have no clue how this (monopoly) organization is held accountable but until that happens, my goodness we are receiving the worst we can do, and it’s consistent!
Vineyard Gazette article on 1
MarieVineyard Gazette article on 1/4/2024 “ Steamship board member Jim Malkin laid out what he believed were some of the largest issues facing the ferry service. His three chief concerns were the looming information technology crisis at the Steamship Authority, the need for an operational plan for the ferry line’s vessels and what he viewed as a lack of accountability by leadership.”
The Headstart Program this week was the IT problem that they knew was coming. It was as if they never tried advanced reservations before.
Repeated failures need to be addressed. A change of management is needed.
If SSA leadership ran
Nancy OBIf SSA leadership ran Christmas there's a good chance it would be in March.
what a pathetic organization.
Michael edgartownwhat a pathetic organization.....call center employees have been told to hold their tongues....immediatate terminations for all management people..
Ground Hog Day at the SSA,
Lizzy T Oak BluffsGround Hog Day at the SSA, starring Robert Davis.
What an utter embarrassment,
John Mort KatamaWhat an utter embarrassment, again. If this was a public company, people would lose their jobs. So frustrating and unacceptable for all on the Islands that depend on a reliable reservation system and more importantly, reliable and on time ferries. The 7 unions that run the circus aside, this is a failure of leadership, again! We all deserve better.
I called because of the
JMI called because of the problems. I was told that I was the only one who had called to complain. Trying to make me feel like it was me and not them. I persisted and was told that they were working on it. She took my number and said that she would get back to me. That was two days ago.
The fact the Steamship
Unmoored Vineyard HavenThe fact the Steamship Authority's reservation systems crash every year despite all assurances to the contrary is the real story here. Davis and his team have zero accountability to their customers. Why should they? They are the only game in town and ticket prices and ridership keep going up. Can't wait for the new "hybrid" ferries. What could go wrong?
After being on queue for
Hugh W ChilmarkAfter being on queue for about 30 minutes on Tuesday, they finally let me in. I made a couple of reservations for a an off-island friend in their name. nor realizing these fell under transferable reservations and the system shouldn't have accepted them until Thursday. The system constantly froze and it took a couple of hours to get them to go through but I eventually received the normal confirmation at the end of the process....But wait! The following day, Wednesday, I received a call from the Steamship Authority saying that the system shouldn't have allowed me to make them, and they were cancelling them...Oh great. So i had to make them again on Thursday morning.....Really, their mistake. They could have just let them slide through and not have to spend 10 minutes of their agents time calling me and discussing the situation, and making me spend time the next day to do exactly the same thing. No harm...no foul.
Same problem. The Tuesday
MarieSame problem. The Tuesday reservations took 1.5 to make -and then they were canceled. Thursday it took 3.5 hours to make 3 transferrable reservations.They need to own their mistakes, I didn’t put the option to transfer on the screen. The website was also misleading in their wording.
But King Solomon said the “fair” thing was to cancel the reservation - at no cost to me!
Administrative Fail!
I emailed Tuesday afternoon
Susan EdgartownI emailed Tuesday afternoon about the crashing Tuesday morning and heard back with a real response the next day.
Pathetic. Enough said.
Fred Edg/HobokenPathetic. Enough said.
I've been traveling to the
Bristol Ted EdgartownI've been traveling to the Island for more than 65 years. To even out the process, why not just keep the regular reservation system open so folks can book whenever their plans firm up? This routine of shutting things down only to have thousands of people attempt in a funnel like system attack the website all on the same day seems insane? We all know the definition of insanity, and this reservation process just makes the definition clear. Perhaps it is as simple as we enjoy watching lemmings fly off of a cliff together or the SSA likes to have control over people's lives, but the system wide shut down just seems silly to me.
Ted
Doesn't this happen every
Island Mike MVDoesn't this happen every year? You need a new IT team! Stop protecting the issue!
I happened to watch the
Bob Morris Woods HoleI happened to watch the Seastreak fast ferry going east through the Hole around 1600 yesterday and thought how legitimate competition should drive poor performers from the market. It’s time the monopoly constraints be relaxed and let free market forces squeeze the poor performer. Islanders deserve better.
While a new website for the
Paint on a rotted wall Vineyard HavenWhile a new website for the SSA will be a rebranding of sorts with additional functionality, it is a bit like putting a fresh coat of paint on a rotten wall. To properly do an overhaul, better off to start with the core system and work outwards from there. Spend the $ to create a new back end reservation system, then build a new website afterwards that will integrate with it. Otherwise, it doesn't fix anything other than refreshing the look and feel, which I don't think anyone was really up in arms about. The core system itself though...makes the papers and social media outlets too often for lack of functionality/reliability. Pour money into that and better maintenance to right the ship, pun intended...
There must be a reservation
Carl Oak BluffsThere must be a reservation system that can be purchased and/or leased out there somewhere. What does Washington State Ferries or NC Ferries use? How about Seastreak? No need to reinvent this wheel, unless it pads someone's pockets.
A simple solution to the
Katama Bill KatamaA simple solution to the volume is to allow reservations 180 days out on a daily basis.
Do you really think the
OB Bill Oak BluffsDo you really think the fragile computer system at the SSA can handle something like that???
Does anyone know Maura Healey
Islander MVDoes anyone know Maura Healey personally and who would be interested in getting her on this? Because she strikes me as someone who might actually visit a friend here, hold a fundraiser, or own a house. If I were governor, one of the first things I would do is get rid of the monopoly. The Board of Governors is hopeless. If you can believe it, the rep for Nantucket thinks everything works fine. At least Malkin understands issues, although it took him several years to accept what most of us already knew for too long: management is not being held responsible for real failures. I have written to him many times: if this were a private company, the CEO would have been fired long ago. It's not an exaggeration, it's a fact. It would have been better to have strict goals to meet for his job, where he gets paid over 200K for overseeing unforced errors left and right.
A partial solution would be
Robert New HavenA partial solution would be to stagger the opening dates for summer based on date of departure. Open June travel date first, followed by July a couple of days later, followed by August. There would be less immediate strain on the system when it’s up and running again.
Think part of problem began
forever vineyard edgartownThink part of problem began when early ticket purchases went to 10 and then they went to 20 (if 2 people owned the house....which is the case for most owners). Things got substantially worse each time. People are maxing out their purchases and giving/selling to realtor etc. Don't think that's in anyone's best interest. Just my thoughts.
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