Facing an “existential challenge,” North Ferry will host a rate relief presentation on May 20 to explain its petition to increase certain fares.
The company has asked the Suffolk County Legislature to permit increases for rates primarily affecting Shelter Island residents and commuters. These are discounted fares that have been historically underwritten by full-fare traffic, which dropped off significantly during the pandemic, creating a $250K budget shortfall, the company says.
North Ferry says the May 20th Zoom presentation is timed so that Islanders and other customers affected by the proposal can gather information and have their questions answered before the Legislature resumes a public hearing on the matter.
(You can find Zoom login details at the bottom of this post.)
NF case for increasing fares
Bridg Hunt — general manager of the ferry company, which is owned by the private Shelter Island Heights Property Owners Corporation — appeared via Zoom at a May 3 legislative committee meeting to present the company’s case. He also attended the Legislature’s main session on May 11, which was also held by videoconference.
Hunt described 2020 as “an existential challenge for North Ferry, as it was for many other companies.”
Federal relief in the form of Payroll Protection Program funds enabled the company to maintain operations and keep traffic flowing between the North Fork and Shelter Island, Hunt said. However, “the pandemic exposed a structural flaw in our current rates and the danger of inadequate equity.”
Hunt said a majority of North Ferry customers, 58 percent, travel at a “steep discount to our cost.” That discount has long been subsidized by full-fare cash ticket purchases, which sharply declined during the pandemic. Roundtrip tickets are discounted for all.
“With recent changes in East End demographics, more of our customers are riding with discount tickets,” Hunt told the legislators. “And more now tend to travel roundtrip, instead of one-way.”
North Ferry recorded a loss in 2019, and in 2020, Hunt said, and “even after our PPP loan was forgiven, we showed a $250,000 loss.”
“The shortfall in our revenue and rising costs are stressing our ability to maintain our fleet and infrastructure,” he said.
Hunt acknowledged that the proposed restructuring of rates “will be most felt by Shelter Island residents and commuters.” This same group, he noted, “is the most dependent on the continued health of North Ferry.”
Proposed rate changes
Currently the cost to transport a passenger vehicle aboard a North Ferry vessel is $9.45, Hunt said in an email. Currently, for residents using a 10-trip discount book, fares are $5.40 for one-way trip and $5.80 for a roundtrip.
No changes are proposed for in-car or walk on passengers from the current rate of $2 one-way and $3 roundtrip, or for 10 tokens, now offered at $15. In an effort to offset costs for large families or people who carpool to work, Hunt said the company will charge just the first two passengers for transit. The proposed changes to car rates are:
| CARS | Current | Proposed | Change |
| One-way car and driver | $12 | $14 | 16.67 % |
| Roundtrip car and driver | $18 | $22 | 22.22 % |
| Prepaid 10 ticket discount cars | |||
| Resident one-way | $54 | $64 | 18.51 % |
| Resident roundtrip | $58 | $78 | 34.48 % |
| Greenport Village resident one-way | $63 | $73 | 15.87 % |
| Greenport Village resident roundtrip | $72 | $92 | 27.77 % |
| Non-resident one way | $69 | $79 | 14.49 % |
| Non-resident roundtrip | $86 | $106 | 23.25 % |
| Weekly commuter | |||
| 5-day resident commuter | $29 | $39 | 34.48 % |
| 5-day non-resident commuter | $36 | $46 | 27.77 % |
| 6-day non-resident commuter | $42 | $52 | 23.81% |
No changes are proposed for dump trucks over 18,000 pounds, for construction trailers or heavy trucks (transit mix, sheet rock, log, cinderblock, tank/water/fuel, dumpster, rolloff, or other heavy vehicle). For other trucks, the proposed changes are:
| TRUCKS (one-way, unless noted) | Current* | Proposed | Change |
| Two-axle (includes boat and light duty trailers) | $12 first 18′ | $14 first 18′ | 16.67% |
| More than two axles | $20 first 18′ | $22 first 18′ | 10% |
| Dump trucks under 18,000 pounds | $12 first 18′ | $14 first 18′ | 16.67% |
No changes are proposed for: motorcycles, including driver, now one-way ($8) or roundtrip ($10); or bicycles, including rider, now one-way ($4), roundtrip ($6) or 5-day commuter ($4/day). Except for mini-buses which follow the truck rates, most bus rates are unchanged: full-size school bus, one-way ($61) and roundtrip ($80); or coach bus, one-way ($80) and roundtrip ($110).
The rate for transport of hazardous materials, $275, is to remain unchanged; but the rate for such transport aboard small ferry vessels is to be eliminated.
How ferry services are regulated
All ferry services operating across bodies of water within Suffolk County are required to obtain a license and rate approval from the County Legislature (Chapter 455 of the Laws of Suffolk County).
This county oversight is done in accordance with relevant state laws (Section 131-g of NYS Highway Law; Article 8 of NYS Navigation Law, and Article 6 of NYS Transportation Corporations Law).
The intent of the county’s Ferry Service Law, is to assure “continuous and adequate ferry service in Suffolk County.”
Shelter Island’s North and South ferries are two of seven ferry services currently licensed by the county. All seven are owned and operated by private companies. The North Ferry license runs through June 18, 2023 and the South Ferry license through January 4, 2024.
Petitions to change rates may be submitted (along with fees to cover the county’s review costs) during license renewal, or at any other time. They go simultaneously to the Legislature’s clerk and Budget Review Office (BRO). Petitions must include:
- A balance sheet including net worth and retained earnings
- Profit and loss statements, stating all income and expenses
- A statement of changes in financial position
During its review, BRO may further “inspect and examine any and all financial accounting records, accounts, books, contracts, documents, papers and procedures connected with the rate-setting process,” the relevant county code says, in part.
The process may include “inquiry into any financial transactions between any subsidiary, affiliate or parent firm or corporation of the petitioner.” While such information may be referred to in an BRO report, the privileged information itself is generally not directly accessible to the public.
Two resolutions
North Ferry’s petition resulted in two resolutions being brought before the Legislature. The first is a procedural motion (concerned with setting timely public hearings); the second is an introductory resolution that outlines the proposed changes.
The Legislature’s Public Works, Transportation and Energy committee — the vice chair is Bridget Fleming, whose district includes Shelter Island — reviewed the procedural motion on May 3. As a result, the Legislature at its May 11th full session took up the challenge of setting a timely public hearing. It was, however, unable to select a date because the Budget Review Office had not completed its report.
Legislator Fleming said at the May 11 session that Shelter Island’s ferries “are a critical part of the transportation network on Long Island and certainly in Suffolk County.” She praised Hunt for the work the ferry company has done to “stay afloat during this difficult time.”
“We’re in a tight spot in terms of meeting our expenses and our capital plans,” Hunt said.
“You’re approaching this in good faith and trying to minimize the impact on Shelter Islanders,” Fleming said. “There will be real impacts on Shelter Islanders that have to be mitigated.”
Public input
Three Island residents spoke at the Legislature’s May 11th Zoom meeting: Julia Weisenberg, Liz Galle and Jim Dougherty, the former Town Supervisor. Weisenberg said she hoped that North Ferry might do more to accommodate families and senior citizens, particularly given the focus on these two valued demographic groups in recent talks about the Town’s Comprehensive Plan Update.
Liz Galle, who is a member of the Town’s Ferry Study Group, said she was not persuaded by Hunt’s presentation and needed to see more data to support the company’s assertion that business had dramatically fallen off. She also questioned the propriety of using pandemic-induced shortfalls in ridership to make rate decisions that will have long-lasting consequences.
Both noted that everything that comes to Shelter Island arrives by boat and that the additional cost for goods and services is passed on to the local community. “It truly affects our small economy,” Galle said.
Doughtery said it is important for the ferry company to present details to the community, “and give everyone a chance to hear the full story.” He noted that Shelter Island’s population has the highest percentage in Suffolk County of people over age 65, many of whom are living on fixed incomes. And that “blue collar” workers often commute to their Island jobs because they can’t afford to live on the Island. Raising rates may make it harder for employers to find workers.
In addition to the North Ferry’s May 20th presentation, a formal opportunity for public input will take place when the Legislature reconvenes its public hearing. That date has yet to be determined, pending the BRO’s report and recommendation.
Follow this link to read the North Ferry introductory resolution No. 1326-2021. It outlines the proposed ferry rates that would go into effect should the resolution be adopted.
What does budget review entail?
While the BRO has not yet submitted its report on North Ferry’s current petition, past reports show the BRO is primarily concerned that “rates should reasonably reflect operation costs without being excessive and should provide sufficient revenue for the business to be a going concern.”
North Ferry last petitioned for a fare increase in 2019, when it asked for 6.7 percent increase on average spread over 28 fare categories. The BRO supported the petition, as did the Legislature. At the time, the BRO wrote, “no increase has been requested for five of the existing fares including all passenger fares.”
One area of concern, BRO wrote in its 2019 report, was that certain fares, including 10-ticket books, remained significantly discounted, ranging from $2.90 to $4.30 each way versus the company’s reported “average cost of $6.28 to provide passage across the bay for a car.”
“The casual traveler and commercial truck traffic continue to subsidize resident travel, as they have historically, at a rate well below cost,” the BRO reported.
In its 2014 report, the BRO produced the same finding when North Ferry applied for a rate increase after six consecutive years of operating losses. While it is typical for any ferry to use casual and commercial traffic to subsidize resident travel, both the 2014 and 2019 BRO reports noted that the structure of the North Ferry rates “puts the viability of their business at risk.”
“The requested rate increase, which we support, does not eliminate the risk of loss but it does help mitigate the risk of failure for the business,” the BRO said in 2019.
County has only privately-run ferries
Most of the ferries in the United States are public services, public benefit corporations, or concessionaires operating along a public route. But, as the BRO has noted in numerous reports, this is not the case in New York, generally, or Suffolk County, particularly.
Here, all ferry services are privately-run; the county bears no cost and receives no revenue, the BRO says.
“No Suffolk County ferry receives public augmentation to farebox revenues to either support capital improvements or to mitigate cost volatility, particularly fuel, for the proprietors; conversely the county receives no direct revenues from the operation of these private concerns.”
“Although the ferries within the County provide a significant public benefit, the proprietors of these companies bear all the risk,” the BRO says.
Join May 20 Zoom presentation
The North Ferry meeting takes place May 20 at 6 PM via Zoom. It will begin with a short presentation by the ferry company, followed by comments/questions from attendees.
The company says it may limit comments to three minutes (as is done by the Legislature) to ensure sufficient time for all. Also, it will not allow subsequent questions from the same individual until all attendees have an opportunity to speak.
Legislators Fleming and Al Krupski, or their representatives, will also been in attendance, along with Town Supervisor Gerry Siller and members of the town’s Ferry Study Group.
Click the link below to join via computer:
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Passcode: 743118
Via one-tap mobile use:
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or +13126266799,,86348895601#,,,,*743118#
Via telephone:
Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
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