June 18, 2008 — With the ferry companies paying about $5 a gallon for fuel, there's a pressing need for the Public Services Commission to call an emergency meeting to discuss a fuel surcharge and schedule reduction, the attorney for the companies said Wednesday.
Claudette Ferron represents both Transportation Services and Varlack Ventures. The companies ply the waters between Red Hook, St. Thomas, and Cruz Bay, St. John, as well as Cruz Bay and Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas.
Ferron wrote to the PSC Tuesday requesting the emergency meeting.
The ferry companies applied for a fuel surcharge in February and in May asked permission to reduce their schedules.
"The PSC hasn't moved on anything," Ferron said.
The ferry companies want a $2 surcharge on all tickets, including bulk, commuter, senior, student and child tickets. They also want to cut out the 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. runs between Red Hook and Cruz Bay, and reduce the downtown runs to three a day in each direction. They would run morning, midday and late afternoon, Ferron said.
"We basically need to keep the runs used by residents," she said.
In a letter to the PSC, Ferron said the ferry companies won't be able to maintain regularly scheduled service by the end of June if they don't get the $2 surcharge and permission to reduce the schedule.
"Eventually the ferries are going to be parked at the dock," Ferron said.
The ferry companies are running at a loss that ranges from $3,800 to $4,000 a day, she said. If they could afford it, it would cost about $15,000 to fill up their tanks, she said. However, they're now filling them only halfway, she said.
PSC Director Keithley Joseph said the commission understands the ferry boat companies' problems caused by the rising cost of fuel, and PSC Chairman Joseph Boschulte said the board is aware of the difficulty of doing business.
"Clearly, we understand the seriousness of the cost of fuel," he said.
Boschulte said he hadn't seen a copy of Ferron's letter to the PSC, but will consider her request.
Ferron complained that the ferry companies haven't received the promised government subsidy.
The PSC is in the midst of a rate investigation into the ferry boat companies' operations. Joseph expects it to conclude in August.
"Then we'll know where things really stand," Joseph said.
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