Ferry travel between the Islands and Cape Cod will cost more for nearly everyone next year, after the Steamship Authority board of governors voted 3-1 Tuesday morning to approve the 2025 operating budget.

Year-round Island residents with vehicles will not see an immediate increase in their low-cost, round-trip excursion fares, available only to members of the SSA’s excursion-rate programs.

But every other fare category is going up in January — and Islanders can expect to see their preferential rates go up in the coming years.

“We’re going to have to pivot and raise the excursion fare if we stay on a fare box-driven [basis],” said Falmouth board member Peter Jeffrey, who called his dissenting vote a “placeholder” for next year’s budget talks.

“I understand the political pressures of not raising the excursion rate, but … we’re relying on the standard [automobile rate] to make up 43 per cent of the additional revenue that we need to balance this budget,” Mr. Jeffrey said.

The Steamship Authority, which is required by state law to fund its service with revenue from fares, is raising rates to cover a projected $3.5 million operating loss in 2025.

Higher payroll, training and information technology expenses are among the main drivers that have pushed the boat line’s operating budget to more than $150.7 million in 2025, up from $137.7 million this year.

Standard-rate vehicles under 20 feet in length will cost between $6 and $21 more, depending on day and date, for one-way passage on the Vineyard route in 2025.

Single-trip passenger tickets are going up by 50 cents for adults, to $10.50, and by 25 cents for children, seniors and active members of the military, who will pay $5.50.

Multi-ride passes are rising by $4 for 10 adult rides, $2 for 10 child rides and $10.50 for the 46-ride commuter pass.

Daily parking in Falmouth is going up between $2 to $7, depending on the season and day of the week, and annual parking at the Woods Hole lot is increasing by $200.

The annual parking pass for the Palmer avenue lot in Falmouth also was slated for a triple-digit increase, but after Island residents pushed back at a recent budget forum in Vineyard Haven, the hike was trimmed to $50.

Freight truck fares are going up by 10 per cent. 

Along with rising expenses, the Steamship Authority also is experiencing a shift in the proportion of motorists who pay the full standard automobile rate — generally visitors — and Islanders who use the preferred and excursion rates.

Year-round residency on Martha’s Vineyard has grown over the past five years, and with it the number of drivers who can take advantage of the low-cost fares by registering with the Steamship Authority.

At the same time, fewer motorists have been booking at the full standard rate, which in 2022 and 2023 brought in revenue averaging more than 132 per cent of the Steamship Authority’s cost to carry the vehicles.

Excursion fares, which include tickets for two adults and two children, now cover just 32 per cent of what it costs the SSA to carry a car and four passengers across the sound, treasurer Mark Rozum told the board.

Also Tuesday, the board approved a 90-day trial of a new day-of-sailing policy for Woods Hole and Vineyard Haven that eliminates the standby line for visiting motorists, starting Jan. 4. 

Only Islanders who are registered with the Steamship Authority’s preferred and excursion-rate programs will be able to seek same-day passage via what’s called the “blue line,” a rotating set of at least 12 standby spaces at each terminal.

Tuesday’s vote also ended a former SSA policy that Islanders could use the blue line only if they had no other reservation.

Head start reservations, which allow members of the preferred and excursion-rate programs to book up to 10 trips in advance for summer travel, are set to begin in mid-January following another board vote Tuesday.

Up to five head start reservations may be made in another driver’s name, and up to three of the five may be transferred after the fact.

For the Vineyard route, head start bookings made from Jan. 14 through Jan. 20 will be non-transferable, reservations director Angela Campbell told the board.

Both transferable and non-transferable head start reservations can be made Jan. 21 through Jan. 27, she said. 

The general opening for summer 2025 Vineyard reservations begins online Feb. 4 through Feb. 10, with the phone lines opening Feb. 11, Ms. Campbell said.