For over 50 years, the town of Cranberry Isles has depended on one ferry service provider to bring the mail, transport residents to medical appointments, and be their dependable, year-round connection to the mainland.
At the March Town Meeting, the town will be seeking funds from voters to subsidize a second morning and evening commuter service that is intended to address the continuing challenge of maintaining a year-round community. The move comes after two years of work by a Transportation Committee appointed to study the issue of transportation challenges to the community.
“It’s easy to commute from Mount Desert Island to the Cranberries to work,” explains Transportation Committee Co-chair Katy Morse Fernald, “but not the other way around. The current year-round schedule doesn’t allow for it.”
Under the current winter schedule, run by privately-owned Beal & Bunker Mail Boat and Ferry, the first boat leaves Islesford at 8:15 a.m. and Great Cranberry at 8:30 a.m. in the morning, and arrives in Northeast Harbor between 8:45 a.m. and 9 a.m. The last boat from Northeast Harbor to the islands departs at 3:30 p.m.
The summer schedule is more flexible, with the first boat leaving Islesford at 8 a.m. and the last boat returning from Northeast Harbor at 6 p.m. The anticipated schedule of the commuter service could result in boats leaving the Cranberries as early as 6:30 a.m. and returning after 5 p.m.
Fernald explains that the current schedule makes it difficult on those who must visit the mainland on a daily basis for work or school, “There is a real need for an easy commute to the mainland.”
Not only does the schedule cause difficulty for an island resident attempting to work a full-time job on the mainland, but it also impact the three island students who attend Mount Desert Island High School. Currently, two of the students board on Mount Desert Island and one student takes his own boat back and forth daily. Fernald herself works at the high school and lives in a home on Mount Desert Island during the school year.
Fernald points out that the issue is directly tied to the islands’ ability to remain viable. “The populations of our islands are declining. We need to know if it’s possible to live on the islands and commute to the mainland.” Fernald further explains that there is concern among residents about losing the current public service altogether because of the current tough economic conditions.
For his part, David Bunker, the owner of Beal & Bunker, David Bunker, has major concerns about extending the schedule and has no interest in bidding on the service. “I think it is absurd and will benefit hardly anyone while being a huge expense for the town,” Bunker says. Steve Pagels, who runs the seasonal Cranberry Cove Ferry, has bid on the service.
Bunker also has concerns about the safety of running a ferry that, in at least some of the winter months, would require travel in the dark. “It is a major liability issue to be leaving these islands in the dark in wintertime,” he says. “There are many days we need to cancel runs in the daylight because conditions are too bad.” The safety problems are recognized by those working on the issue as well. At the 2009 Town Meeting, the Transportation Committee received approval to have an engineering consultant survey possible safety issues of the town docks that might impact such a service. The survey turned up issues as varied as additional lighting to dock reconfiguration.
But the major problem with the addition of two boat runs is cost. Ridership is expected to be so low that the town will need to subsidize almost the entire service. With the most suitable bid for the service starting at $87,000, the town is exploring multiple ways to offset the cost, including tapping into the state’s ferry subsidy program and other possible subsidies through the state. It is expected that residents may need to carry as much as half the cost of the service.
If the service and subsidy is approved at Town Meeting in March, any amount will be for a two-year trial period only, after which point the service will be reassessed. Kate Fernald thinks this is a critical part of the discussion. “I don’t know if it will go forward at all or if there will be enough ridership to go forward,” says Kate Fernald. “I can’t ask people to pay more unless it’s justifiable.”
For his part, Bunker doesn’t believe the issue will see much debate at town meeting at all. “I think it will be a very short discussion,” he predicted.
Cherie Galyean is a freelance writer who lives in Bar Harbor.