PORTLAND, Maine — Board members in charge of the Casco Bay Lines ferry service are proposing the first ticket price hike in 15 years in hopes of breaking even with an increasing deficit.
"I mean think about it, whatever prices have not gone up in 15 years? So I'm glad that we're making progress," Chris Hoppin said, who sits on the service's finance committee.
Right now, a full-price ticket to Peaks Island costs $7.70 during peak season, and $4.10 during the off-season. The proposal, if passed, would raise those same ticket prices by 82 percent for peak season and 76 percent for off-season.
"[The service is] a critical one, and part of it's issue is the cost," Hoppin added.
Not being able to break even financially for years, Peaks Island resident and board member Jean Hoffman said the increase has always been in the back of folks' minds if the service wants to stay afloat.
"We have to be fiscally responsible, and Casco Bay Lines spends roughly twice as much as it takes in, in revenues," Hoffman said. "It really started to grow in 2019, and this year, the ferry service is projected to lose more than 4.3 million dollars."
Historically, Hoffman said the ferry service has operated by offsetting costs through grant revenue streams from federal, city, and state funding.
Some residents on Peaks Island say they wouldn't mind the change, if the proposal passes, due to a 42 percent monthly discount that would be offered compared to the service's current monthly rates.
"There's like a thousand people who live here in the winter, and it swells to about five thousand plus in the summer. So a lot of people rely on it," Ben Mini said. "And I think it would support the full-time island community pretty well, while still being pretty profitable."
Public comment will be taken into consideration at an upcoming Board of Directors meeting on April 25.