Vineyarders voiced their concern for the future of the Steamship Authority at a public forum held this week.
The informal meeting was hosted by the Island’s representatives at the ferry line at the Portuguese American Club Thursday. James Malkin, the Vineyard’s representative on the Steamship’s governing board, John Cahill, the Tisbury port council member, and Joseph Sollitto, the Oak Bluffs member on the council, fielded questions from the approximately 30 attendees for almost two hours.
The trio held the forum in order to talk directly with Islanders about how the ferry service is run, and what can be done to make it better.
Concerns and questions were raised about the ferry service’s outdated reservation system and the structure of the Steamship Authority’s governance, among other things.
“The concerns that you have about the SSA are the same concerns that we have,” Mr. Malkin said.
The Steamship Authority is in the middle of several large changes. The ferry service promoted engineer Mark Amundsen to the chief operating officer position – the second highest role in the company – last month, and is embarking on a search for a new general manager. The ferry line is also working to build a new terminal in Woods Hole and develop a new reservation system.
Mr. Cahill began the forum by explaining the governing structure of the Steamship Authority and how the port council is involved. The advisory port council has two representatives from the Vineyard who meet monthly with members from Nantucket, Falmouth, Barnstable, Fairhaven and New Bedford to discuss recommendations for the board of governors. The board of governors, which has five members, oversees the general manager and the operation of the ferry service.
The board approves the Steamship’s budget, schedule, and large-scale projects.
“The general manager runs the Steamship Authority with the advice of the governance,” Mr. Cahill added.
Mr. Malkin said one of the Steamship Authority main issues is a lack of communication with customers.
“There are a lot of really good people in the organization,” he said. “But there is a need for better communication.”
The capacity strain of the Steamship was another concern brought up by Mr. Malkin. Islanders often want to leave in the morning and come back in the late afternoon, creating high demand for some time slots.
“Part of the issue that we face right now is straining the capacity of the SSA at certain times,” he said. “Our infrastructure [also] isn’t built for the increase in population in the summer.”
A member of the public asked about the dynamics between Martha’s Vineyard and sister island of Nantucket. Mr. Malkin explained that Nantucket’s car traffic isn’t as high compared to the Vineyard.
“People from Nantucket don’t leave and come to the mainland as much as we do,” he said. “They don’t bring their cars when they do. The demand is very different.”
The Steamship Authority was established in 1960, and is tasked with providing transportation to the Vineyard and Nantucket. Private ferries are allowed to provide passage to the Islands, but need to get Steamship Authority approval.
One attendee brought up the idea of abolishing the Steamship Authority as a whole, to which the question of what the alternative would be was raised.
“I’m not sure that I want the state, say someone who is the chair of the transportation committee who may live in Worcester, making decisions on what this place needs for transportation,” Mr. Malkin said.
Mr. Malkin, Mr. Cahill and Mr. Sollitto said that they would like to continue hosting similar forums in the future so Vineyarders can voice their concerns.
“We are members of the public, and what’s happening is that the noise that was made about some issues has had unintended consequences,” Mr. Malkin said. “I don’t think it’ll serve us any good to burn bridges.”
