Suffolk lawmakers OK price hikes for Shelter Island ferry by as much as 66%

Suffolk County lawmakers on Tuesday approved rate hikes as high as 47.4% and 66.67% for two companies that ferry hundreds of thousands of vehicles each year back and forth to Shelter Island.

Officials for both companies said the increases are needed to meet rising costs and maintain current levels of service, but East End educators warned the hikes could negatively impact recruitment and retention, which is already an ongoing problem due to the high cost of living.

Legislators approved both increases after two public hearings Tuesday and a lengthy discussion, particularly on the impact of the North Ferry’s elimination of a five-day, non-commuter pass. Several thousand year-round residents of Shelter Island, as well as summer residents and those who travel to the island for work or recreation, have no alternative path to the island besides ferry.

The North Ferry operates a one-mile route between Greenport and Shelter Island and the rate increases range from 3.3% to 47.4%, according to an analysis by the legislature’s Budget Review Office. The South Ferry operates a ¼-mile route between North Haven and Shelter Island and the rate increases range from 8.57% to 66.67%, according to a separate analysis. The Budget Review Office reports concluded both increases were reasonable.

“We’ve really tried to think about this application carefully and not crush anybody,” said North Ferry General Manager Bridg Hunt during Tuesday night's public hearing.

The North Ferry last increased fares in 2023 and the South Ferry in 2019. “A lot has happened since then,” said Briton Clark, the South Ferry’s director of operations.

Margaret Motto, a teacher in the Sag Harbor School District, said during the public hearing that she commutes from her North Fork home across Shelter Island using both ferries.

She will now have to pay the non-resident, round-trip fare of $16.80 per day. That increases her weekly expense by 71% from $49 to $84, which she described as “burdensome.”

“Even though we do not live on the island, we’re residents who need an affordable way to get to work,” she said, adding that the Hamptons’ notorious traffic year round makes driving around problematic.

Hunt told lawmakers the current $49 fare was “unsustainable” and “so far below our cost." He noted those residents would be still be paying nearly $10 less than the new round-trip cash fare.

Most travelers on the North Ferry paying a cash fare will see an increase from $24 to $26 for a round-trip ticket. Hunt said that cash fare — their top rate — “subsidizes everybody else” since the prices they charge for Shelter Island and Greenport Village residents is below cost. 

The South Ferry maintains a five-day, non-resident fare, but increased it by 66.67% from $27 to $45.

A round-trip cash fare for most vehicles on South Ferry rises 25% from $20 to $25.

For Motto, the two increases raises her monthly ferry expenses from $304 to $516.

The superintendents of four South Fork districts — Bridgehampton, East Hampton, Montauk and Sag Harbor — wrote a letter to legislators April 30 to express “serious concerns” over the increases for non-resident commuter passes.

They wrote that the ferry service is a “vital transportation link” and warned the increases could result in districts losing staff while also hampering future recruitment.

“The geographic isolation of our area already creates recruitment difficulties, and these dramatic rate increases would further exacerbate this ongoing challenge,” the superintendents wrote.

Legis. Nick Caracappa (C-Selden) supported the ferry companies and said people were using the ferry as a “cut through" and "convenience” so the cost should reflect that.

Legis. Anthony Piccirillo (R-Holbrook) said Tuesday he was sympathetic to a teacher’s commute involving two ferry rides, but if the companies are operating at a loss “there won’t be a ferry company.”