Residents upset about proposed 12.5 percent ferry hike

Island residents attend a public hearing on ferry rate hikes at the Rockland terminal of the Maine State Ferry Service. David Tyler

"I am beside myself about the amount" of this increase, said Michelle Stanley, of Vinalhaven, about a 12.5 percent increase in ticket prices proposed by the Maine State Ferry Service. "If you folks knew what we are paying just to live out there!"

After a May 8 hearing on the proposed rate hike, Stanley said it costs $5 per gallon for milk on Vinalhaven, $4.67 a gallon for gas and $4.18 a gallon for heating oil. And now her family faces higher prices every time they get on the ferry.

The proposed hike means a round-trip passenger ticket to Vinalhaven, North Haven and Swan's Island, from the mainland, will go from $14.50 to $16 and a round-trip vehicle ticket increases to $38 from $33.25, for example.

The new fees will start June 1, unless the state Commissioner of Transportation, David Cole, decides they are not warranted, according to Richard Hughes, a state transportation lawyer.

The Maine State Ferry Advisory Board already approved the hike on April 10. The higher rates impact everyone using the ferry to travel to Matinicus, North Haven, Vinalhaven, Islesboro, Swan's Island and Frenchboro

The hike includes passenger tickets, vehicle and bicycle transport, docking fees and parking lot fees. The increase is due to rising fuel costs - and state law, which requires that 50 percent of the state ferry service's operating budget come from fares. Diesel fuel costs this year have increased by over $1.25 per gallon, according to Capt. Jim MacLeod, manager of the Maine State Ferry Service. The ferry service uses 520,000 gallons of fuel annually.

Due to the continuing steep increase in fuel costs, "It will be very challenging to operate this ferry service in an affordable manner in the foreseeable future," said MacLeod. "I wish we didn't have to raise rates, I really do, but it is becoming more and more of an expensive operation."

The new rates also include a winter parking fee of $175 for the Rockland parking lot. Until now, that lot has been free.

"I think that $175 is an outrage," said Bob Delsandro of Vinalhaven, who commutes to the mainland for work. "It's obscene that we're trying to make this parking lot work and help Maine DOT and then have such an increase."

MacLeod said the winter parking fees in Rockland were to help manage the lot. Right now, mainland residents and workers in downtown Rockland park in the lot, which is a public parking lot.

Comments about the fee hike should be mailed by May 27 to: Richard N. Hughes, Maine DOT legal division, 16 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0016.