As the Steamship Authority (SSA) prepares to sail into the busy summer season, it is re-examining the issues surrounding a potential Vineyard–New Bedford freight service link intended to siphon off heavy truck traffic from Woods Hole Road in Falmouth. Sticking points have included costs of service and whether shippers would see it as a viable transportation link and alternative to Cape traffic.
On Tuesday, SSA General Manager Wayne Lamson presented a 38-page preliminary report on the feasibility of freight service between the Island and New Bedford at the SSA monthly board meeting, held at the New Bedford Art Museum. The SSA management report presented three “preliminary” service recommendations, all designed to minimize any financial risk to the SSA.
The SSA recommended that the SSA consider a proposal from R.M. Packer Co. to provide a barge and tug service for freight trucks between New Bedford and the Vineyard on a “roll-on/roll-off basis,” potentially without the payment of any license fees.
The report recommended hiring Craig Johnson from Flagship Management, a Florida-based maritime search firm, to explore under what terms and conditions a private operator might be interested in providing New Bedford freight service at their own financial risk under a license agreement with the SSA.
And the the report recommended the SSA work with the Cape Cod Commission, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, and agencies and public officials of all towns that would be affected by New Bedford freight service to craft a joint request to the appropriate local, regional, and state agencies for the purpose of supporting New Bedford freight service.
That would include funding for the construction and maintenance of a freight ferry terminal and an agreement to make up the difference between what the SSA would spend to provide freight service and what it would earn in revenue from fares.
New Bedford or Woods Hole
Under the last scenario, truckers and vehicle drivers would have the option of traveling to New Bedford or Woods Hole on either leg of a round trip.
Assuming a private operator doesn’t enter into an agreement with the SSA to provide service at its own financial risk — and funding is secured for a freight terminal and operation — the SSA proposes to charter a freight vessel from a private operator to run between New Bedford and Vineyard Haven. The suggested schedule is two round-trips a day on weekdays during the 22-week summer season, and weekends and holidays at the discretion of the SSA. The service would run for three years, with any extension also at the discretion of the SSA. The fares would be the same for New Bedford as they are for Woods Hole.
The SSA would integrate the New Bedford freight route into its reservations system so travelers going to and from the Vineyard can travel in one direction by way of New Bedford and the other direction by way of Woods Hole.
The first daily one-way trip from New Bedford to the Vineyard would be designated a “hazardous cargo” trip. Reservations could be made for cars and trucks the same way freight trips are currently booked. Cars would be allowed to go standby on freight trips between New Bedford and the Vineyard, with the same conditions currently in place for all freight trips.
Freight shippers would be allowed to ship “driverless” trucks between New Bedford and the Vineyard as long as the SSA is assured that the truck will be met by a driver at the terminal on the other side.
Mr. Lamson said he will seek input from public officials of all potentially affected communities as well as “everyone else who may be interested in a possible New Bedford freight service” over the coming months.
While a New Bedford freight route may be music to the ears of Woods Hole residents, Marc Hanover, Martha’s Vineyard SSA member told The Times on Wednesday morning that many questions remain unanswered.
“This is the third or fourth time we’ve looked at this in my 13 years on the board,” he said. “There are a lot of obstacles, starting with who’s going to pay for it? It’s three times the distance and three times the cost.”
Mr. Hanover said there are numerous logistical issue to be resolved. “There’s no docking facility in New Bedford that’s available,” he said. “The state pier has fallen into disrepair and it can’t handle cars or trucks, only passengers. There’s another large pier for wind farm operations but there’s no ramp and no dock.”
Shifting gears, Mr. Hanover also had some good news — the new freight/passenger ferry, the Woods Hole, is scheduled for delivery by June 7. “It will be in operation in time for the summer schedule.,” he said. “It can carry 385 people, and a substantial number of cars and trucks.”
Return trip
The report follows a request last October by Falmouth member Elizabeth Gladfelter, supported by Oak Bluffs and Tisbury officials present, to explore private-carrier options for transporting freight between New Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard. While the proposal was not new, the general support was in sharp contrast to the division that New Bedford service raised 15 years earlier when trial service was attempted.
In 2001, a push by New Bedford for a piece of ferry service that found support in Falmouth provided a political flashpoint that resulted in a brief subsidized pilot freight link to the port city, and ignited a legislative battle that ended with the expansion of the SSA membership to include a voting New Bedford member.
According to an SSA analysis, in 2000 the SSA lost almost $680 per truck carried on the route; and in 2001, it lost around $410 per truck. The SSA report noted, “Critics of the pilot program asserted that it was ‘designed to fail.’”
In April 2012, following another examination of New Bedford service, the staff concluded that it would not be financially feasible for the SSA itself to provide freight service between New Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard.
Recently, Tisbury and Oak Bluffs officials have attempted to resurrect long-stalled efforts to barge solid waste from the Island to New Bedford.
The Island’s solid waste is now shipped off-Island truckload by truckload, accounting for more than 15 percent of the Steamship Authority’s freight traffic, or one in seven freight trips.
$60 million tab
In other business, with the freight boat Katama out of service due to a cracked gear tooth, and the Governor still in the shipyard, the SSA is using the Nantucket to fill the freight boat schedule. As a result, the Island Home, which was in the shipyard for routine service, is filling the Nantucket’s schedule. Once the Governor is back in service in early May, the Island Home will go into the shipyard.
Mr. Lamson told the board that the schematic design report for the Woods Hole terminal reconstruction is in, and the projected cost is $59.5 million, with no contingency allocation added. The projected cost can be covered by transfers from the replacement fund and bond issues, according to SSA staff.
Due to increased online booking and declining business at the SSA ticket counter at the Martha’s Vineyard Airport, Mr. Lamson told the board, he is considering letting the five-year lease with the airport commission run out in November and moving the operations to unused rooms on the second floor of the Vineyard Haven terminal. He noted the airport reservation office processes on average around 40 counter transactions per day. “We believe our ticket sellers can handle those transaction without much more traffic at the Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs terminals,” he said.
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