Two months after touching off an uproar by imposing a new 50-cent fee for riding the Red Hook-St. John ferry, the Virgin Islands Port Authority has backed off, by a quarter, for some people.
The Authority decided everyone except seniors, students and people needing treatment for a chronic medical problem will pay a half-dollar as a new ‘use fee’ for the ferry terminal at Red Hook. Passengers qualifying for the discount will pay only 25 cents.
The current round trip ferry fare is $10. The Public Service Commission is considering a request from the ferry companies to boost the cost 40%,m to $14, according to the Virgin Islands Daily News.
Now, here’s the part of this story I really love!
The use fee will be added into the cost of the tickets sold by the ferry company. Then, the Daily News said, the ferry companies will “pass the fee on to the Port Authority for terminal maintenance costs.” Yeah, right.
For years, the PA and/or the PSC have been wrestling to get verified financial reports from the companies which consistently cry and complain and poor mouth about how bad their business is, but whose employees are, shall we say ‘lax,’ about money handling, receipts, and reporting.
just a question- my dad is a senior citizen and came to visit this past Dec and they wouldnt give him the senior discount even though he had a card. Do you have to be a resident of the VI? Because when I used to visit with my kids, I got the child rate as a visitor.
Yep, you gotta be a local, or close. They want a VI-government-issued Sr. Citizens card which you get by filling out paperwork and having a local address.
I know one villa owner who went through the rigmarole and got one – she’s on island several months a year.
Travel all over being an old fart. The only place you can’t do it is in the VI’s or at least the ferries.