Since 1960, the Steamship Authority has been proud to be the Lifeline to the Islands. Our U.S. Coast Guard-certified crews work year round to bring the necessities of life to the people who live and work on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Martha’s Vineyard ferries depart from Woods Hole and Nantucket ferries depart from Hyannis, and our seasonal high-speed passenger ferry, the M/V Iyanough, gets you to Nantucket, dock-to-dock, in just an hour.
The Steamship Authority is an instrumentality of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which means we are a public body subject to the state’s public records and open meeting laws. Although we were created by an act of the Legislature, we do not receive any funding from the state or federal governments, meaning outside of a small amount of competitive grants, our operations and our capital expenses are totally funded by our farebox. That makes us unique among the more than 150 ferry operators in the United States.
We not only serve the islands – we are proud members of our Cape Cod port communities. Each year, we pay more than $9.5 million in wages to Falmouth residents, who make up approximately one-quarter of our 700-member workforce. We are members of Falmouth Community Television and the Falmouth Chamber of Commerce, and we are excited to be a 2023 sponsor of several local events, including the Woods Hole Film Festival and Falmouth Village’s Movies Under the Stars.
The Steamship Authority continues to make its operations more environmentally friendly. We have recently started preconstruction work on our new Woods Hole terminal facilities, which will include energy- efficient upgrades to the new Woods Hole terminal and utility buildings in an effort to obtain LEED certification for the project. The site design includes photovoltaic arrays and a geothermal system to provide heating and cooling; our goal for the project is to achieve net-zero energy status through the use of these systems.
We have added seven electric shuttle buses to our fleet serving the Falmouth parking lots. We’re working to install charging stations at the new Woods Hole Terminal, and we are working to help match those stations to the future needs of other public transit organizations, such as the Cape Cod Regional Transit Administration.
The Steamship Authority, in partnership with NextGrid Inc., recently received approval from the Falmouth Zoning Board of Appeals to install a 5,900 kilowatt solar and 6,100 kilowatt-hour battery storage system at our Thomas B. Landers Road parking lot. The development is the first such energy project in our history, but it won’t be the last – we are in the early stages of pursuing a similar development for our Palmer Avenue parking lot.
For more information about the Steamship Authority, please call our Administrative Offices or visit our website. The Steamship Authority – Serving the Islands and You.
(Pictured Above: SSA General Manager Robert Davis, left, and Port Council Member Robert S.C. Munier of Falmouth celebrated the arrival of new electric buses with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 12, 2023.)
228 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth | steamshipauthority.com