New Proposal Would Triple Ferry Embarkation Fee

A bill pending before the Massachusetts State legislature would triple the embarkation fee paid by local ferry services including the Steamship Authority and Hy-Line from 50 cents to $1.50 per passenger. Likely to be taken up during informal sessions this fall, the hike would be the first change to the embarkation fee since it was adopted in 2003.

First proposed in 2022 by the Oak Bluffs and Tisbury Finance Committees, as well as the Hyannis Fire Department, the potential fee increase has been received more tepidly on Nantucket, with some officials voicing concerns that the added cost could hurt year-round residents. While there is an exception to the fee for commuter passes, not all year-round residents purchase those passes—or can afford to. Still, proponents see the increase as a necessary measure to adjust for the significant inflation incurred since 2003 and fund critical infrastructure projects in the affected communities.

The fee, which raises a little over $1 million annually, is intended to pay for infrastructure costs incurred by seasonal visitors using the ferry services. Nantucket uses the funds for infrastructure projects and to pay for the community service officers who supplement the Police Department’s regular staff each summer.

The bill looking to triple the embarkation fee is sponsored in the Massachusetts legislature by Cape and Islands Senator Julian Cyr along with a pair of Cape Cod politicians, Representative Kipp Diggs and Senator Susan Moran. It has been pending before the Committee on Ways and Means in the Senate since July 18th and was not ultimately passed in the rush before the end of the year’s formal legislative session.

It is not clear at this point whether the legislature favors the bill. If the move to triple the fee is unsuccessful, there may also be room for a compromise that would increase the fee by a smaller margin.

The Nantucket Harbor Plan Update Committee has also suggested a similar recommendation in the early stages of the drafting process for the island’s new harbor action plan, set to go to the Select Board for approval next Spring or Summer.