I ended up on an “adventure” on Monday, and after several conversations with those I met along the way we decided it was too fascinating not to share. I had been hearing all the “row” about the ferry service to St. Thomas for months, and I got a good dose of it that day. My plan was to catch the 8:30 a.m. ferry to attend to some appointments, do some shopping, and return by 4 p.m. I arrived in St. Thomas via Jost Van Dyke and St. John almost three hours later on a trip that should have taken 30 minutes from port to port. I made the joke with a fellow passenger that I could have flown to Miami in the time it took me to get to an island I can see.
Thankfully, the doctor’s office was flexible (I guess they are used to hearing the “ferry was late” line) and I was able to accomplish that visit but nothing much else.
I’ve heard similar ferry stories just a few weeks leading up to my own experience, and I can fully appreciate what my sister said about “being high-jacked on the high seas.”
The trip
So it went like this. I arrived at West End to catch the 8:30 a.m. ferry, only to watch it drop off passengers and go to Road Town (I’m assuming it had mechanical issues, but no one has offered an explanation as yet), leaving passengers asking one another what was happening. I was told we were going on the St. John ferry at 9:15. That ferry arrived at 9:30 with passengers who were going to Jost Van Dyke, but because immigration wasn’t in place yet, the ferry came to pick them up and we all had to go to JVD. Are you kidding me? We, the passengers, didn’t figure out this detour until we made a right turn at Steele Pointe: Apparently, no one thought it important to mention the change in plans.
Up to this point, the ferry companies involved have not offered apologies for the inconvenience. Sadly, this apparently has become the norm. It’s as if we are cargo and not customers — or as if we are catching a ride and not paying for a service. This is blatant disrespect to people’s time and money, and it grieves me when I know that better can be done but this has been tolerated for far too long.
WE native
I grew up in West End, so I know of the ups and downs of the ferries, and I can appreciate when there are mechanical failures and other problems. But there is no excuse for the lacklustre customer service. Further to that, it is time for the ferry schedules to come into alignment with the needs of the travelling public, which have evolved over time. Once upon a time, I could tell time by the ferries; now you’re lucky if one shows up at all. This is hurting residents and visitors alike.
To start with, the schedule needs to serve air travellers departing and arriving through St. Thomas. The ferry service is basically a commuter link to the airlines — an addition to domestic travel that should not be treated as independent. It is obvious that travel has shifted to St. Thomas because of the economical airfare costs. Thinking that people will fly to Beef Island if it is a hassle to travel by ferry is a flawed argument, because the dollars will dictate otherwise. I know everyone isn’t like me and loves sailing, but if it saves $300 they will take the 15-minute sail to West End.
Negotiations
I know there were efforts to adjust the ferry schedule last year that were shut down for whatever reason, but I think we need to rise above ego and stakeholders need to sit at the table and stay there until a solution is found. We have been talking about what needs to change long enough. Just do it! That’s what being in business is about: working to meet the customers’ needs — not what is convenient to you as a business or government agency. We (John Q Public) are paying business and government leaders good salaries to make hard decisions, and I’d appreciate an attempt please.
As an example, a ferry leaving every hour or two from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. would make a big difference in accessibility to the territory for everyone. We have four ferry companies (two based here and two in the United States Virgin Islands), so I don’t see a solution being hard to reach if we truly want one. And the engineer in me likes contingencies, so I propose a ferry departure every hour or two so that if one boat is unable to travel, you aren’t inconvenienced for three or four hours. To build accountability and flexibility into the system, if a company can’t maintain its schedule, it should be adjusted accordingly.
With such reforms, I believe the frequency of travel would increase, because it would be more convenient to travel for business or leisure.
Airport extension
The airport advocates may think I’m not in support of the airport extension, but I am for it — with the proper business case that supports it. The reality is that it is not profitable for airlines to fly half full to Beef Island instead of full into St. Thomas with passengers for both destinations. The cost of a ticket will be significantly more unless government subsidises the difference with tax dollars to keep the price down. Either way, the public pays. The ferry companies benefit from this status quo and yet behave like it’s a good deed they are doing. Meanwhile, business service standards are out the window.
I don’t have a problem with a runway extension to support private jet travel either. Let them come as long as the territory benefits from it. What I strongly support is a national commuter airline that connects to the major airports in the region (including St. Thomas) as an extension of the major carriers. This allows us to take more control over air access instead of relying on people who at the end of the day only care about their profit margins and not the development of the VI.
I am definitely for Virgin Islanders being the movers and shakers in our economy and owning a stake in it. That’s why I say we need to pull up our socks and get down to business. Speaking of business, I have another story about going to a “sauna movie” the other night, but I’ll save that for another day. Just know that I believe that when it comes to conducting business in the VI, I know we can do better than we have been doing and accepting as customers if we are willing to see past the norm and go for the exceptional. Done the talk! Time for action!
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