New Woods Hole Terminal opens to the public
WOODS HOLE (June 25, 2026) – The new Woods Hole Terminal building opened to the public Thursday morning, marking the end of a 21-month construction project that was completed on time and under budget.
General Manager Alex Kryska and members of SSA staff, the Board, and Port Council greeted travelers Thursday morning as they entered the new building. Coffee and pastries were provided by Woods Hole-based café Pie in the Sky.
“The opening of this terminal marks a tremendous milestone in the decade-long project to totally reimagine and rebuild the Woods Hole Terminal,” said Kryska. “With this new building and the adjacent utility building , the terminal now offers climate-resilient and state-of-the-art facilities for our travelers, the public, and our employees alike.”
The terminal building and its accompanying utility building were built at the site starting in October 2024. Both buildings are heated and cooled by a geothermal system that includes 39 wells drilled into the ground underneath the vehicle staging area and employee parking lot. The wells are a portion of the energy-efficient upgrades in an effort to obtain LEED certification at the site. The site design also includes photovoltaic arrays in the vehicle staging area, in the employee parking lot and on the roofs of the terminal and utility buildings. The installation of the solar panel systems is expected in the next, and final, phase of the project.
More than 2.4 million passengers and 550,000 vehicles of all sizes passed through the Woods Hole Terminal in 2025, making it the Authority’s busiest port. The terminal connects travelers to the Vineyard Haven Terminal in Tisbury and the Oak Bluffs Terminal in Oak Bluffs, which is open seasonally from May to October.
Woods Hole Terminal site quick facts
- Terminal size: 5,418 net square feet
- Utility building size: 5,981 square feet
- Planned solar installations: 235 KW from two canopies plus photovoltaic panels on terminal building roof
- Geothermal wells feeding the heating and cooling systems: 39
- Resiliency: flood-proofed to a 17-foot elevation by use of concrete walls covered by a granite veneer and deployable flood barriers
- Foundation: Anchored by a 42-inch below-grade concrete slab to resist the upward pressure of groundwater under the surface of the terminal
Since 1960, the Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority has served as the transportation lifeline to the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard year round. The Steamship Authority is the largest ferry service to the Islands and offers the most frequent daily departures for passengers, automobiles, groups, and trucks. In 2025, more than 2.9 million passengers and more than 674,000 vehicles of all sizes were transported to and from the Islands. Our U.S. Coast Guard-certified crews are committed to the highest level of safety at sea while our vessels offer comfort and convenience with spacious seating, free Wi-Fi and TV on board.