The Steamship Authority has seen the number of full-fare automobile tickets shrink for the last three years on the Vineyard route, leaving ferry line officials wondering if it’s time to overhaul the Islander discount program.

Rates for excursion tickets, which are only allowed for Island vehicles, will almost certainly go up next year, and Steamship leaders are also considering other changes, such as introducing dynamic ticket pricing, new ticket tiers during different points of the year and putting caps on the number of times the Islander discounted rates can be used annually. 

The potential changes come as standard vehicle tickets, those paid largely by visitors bringing their cars to the Island, have fallen by about 6 per cent annually for the last three years and 2025 is on track for a 4 per cent drop compared to last year.

At the same time, excursion travel continues its streak of growth, meaning more people are traveling on discounted tickets while the full-cost tickets that subsidize them continue to dip.

Excursion rates could be going up.

Ray Ewing

Excursion rates could be going up.

Ray Ewing

Steamship officials see the current situation, which has been a driver of a $1.2 million downturn in operating revenue, as unsustainable and they are pondering their options.

“The entire fare structure has to be looked at,” said James Malkin, the Vineyard’s representative on the Steamship’s board of governors. “That growing gap is not tenable.” 

In 2021, the Steamship Authority carried nearly 432,700 vehicles aboard its ferries on the Vineyard route, not including tractor trailers and other larger vehicles. At the time, about 291,500 paid the standard, non-discounted fare, and just over 141,000 people paid the discounted excursion rate. 

By 2024, standard vehicles had dropped by about 50,000 vehicles, and excursion fares had increased by nearly 18,000 vehicles. 

In the winter, a standard ticket costs $140 roundtrip for a vehicle, compared to the $73 excursion ticket. In the summer months, the standard ticket can go as high as $320 roundtrip for a car and an excursion ticket peaks at $126 for a car roundtrip. 

Designed to help Islanders get on and off the Island at a lower cost, the excursion tickets also include passenger tickets for two adults and two children for every trip. 

Officials have attributed the shifting travel patterns to more people living on the Vineyard, meaning more people qualify for the discount program. They also see the difficulty in getting doctors, veterinarians and other services on the Island as a potential reason for why the excursion program is being used more often as Islanders seek more services on the mainland.

What was worrisome for members of the Steamship board, as well as its advisory port council, was how little the excursion ticket covers versus the actual cost to the ferry line to transport a vehicle.

In 2024, the ticket price for excursion customers covered about 27 per cent of the cost of service, and standard ticket buyers were paying for about 126 per cent of the cost, according to Steamship data.  

“I do think we are going to have to see an increase in the excursion fare rate to pay for the actual cost of service for the excursion fare,” said Peter Jeffrey, the Falmouth member of the Steamship board. 

It's unclear what the ferry line will do, but several options are on the table.

Ray Ewing

It's unclear what the ferry line will do, but several options are on the table.

Ray Ewing

He raised the prospect of adding dynamic fares, where prices change depending on the demand, similar to airplane flights, or the time of day, like an Uber rideshare. 

“I think all of those things have to be taken into consideration,” he said. 

In the past, the Steamship board has been hesitant to raise the excursion rate. Since 2021, the fare has remained the same, but the board has been considering hikes for this upcoming year after the Steamship Authority had to overcome a nearly $15 million budget shortfall during the previous budget season. 

Mr. Malkin said the ferry line could look at the length of the winter and summer seasons as a potential place to make changes. 

Oak Bluffs port council member Joseph Sollito said he could envision a limit of 12 trips per year at the excursion rate, not counting medical trips, before the fare went up to another price point.

Earlier this year, the Steamship officials learned that some take more advantage of the discount than others. A majority of the people in the program ­— about 92 per cent —  use it fewer than twice a month, according to Mark Rozum, the treasurer and comptroller at the ferry line.

But there are a handful of people who have used the ferry more than 200 times in one year, prompting some considerations on if there should be an upper limit on how many times one can use the discounted tickets. Mr. Sollitto noted that he only takes his vehicle to the mainland a few times a year. 

“I went off for a funeral this summer and to get my car serviced,” he said. “I think there are a lot of people like me.” 

Nantucket port council member Nat Lowell has already pondered adding a new price tier for excursion customers in the heart of the tourism season.

Vehicles and passengers board the ferry this week.

Ray Ewing

Vehicles and passengers board the ferry this week.

Ray Ewing

“We could raise the price in the core of the summer on the excursion people because they’re not doing it as much,” he said at a meeting in May. “There are ways to fix this.” 

With Labor Day approaching, Steamship finance staff will soon start meeting with the governors and port council members individually to come up with plans for 2026. Some noted there may be more flexibility on pricing strategies moving forward when the ferry line begins to roll out its new, $5.7 million reservation system, which is still being worked on. 

But Mr. Jeffrey said the current funding situation is also a chance to step back and consider how the whole boat line operates. 

He has been concerned that the Steamship Authority, a quasi-public transportation authority that operates with little to no state aid, is operating under an outdated enabling act, and the entire structure of the Steamship should be reconsidered by the state legislature. 

A system where some of the larger capital projects, such as the tens of millions of dollars needed to pay for new boats and terminals, are covered by state funds, seemed more feasible to him going forward. 

“I think that ultimately we should look at that,” he said. “I think that should be part of the state highway system.”