Review of Orkney Inter Island Ferry Fare Structure

Folk in Orkney are being asked to feedback into a survey on the revised Orkney Ferries fare structure which has been in place now for nearly three months.

The Council’s Transportation Service will use the results to pull together an informed review of the fare structure and how this has impacted communities.

The Council’s Transportation Manager Laura Cromarty said: “The aim of this is to create a fairer structure of fares for everyone, and we want to know if this is working.

“We would be very grateful if you could take 10 minutes to complete this survey here https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/TQEKCO/ which will give us a more detailed picture of how the new structure is working for those using the services.”

The Council introduced a revised ferry fare structure for passengers and cars across the Orkney Ferries service on 14 June this year. This reduced the base rate adult and vehicle fares by 38% and gave a further 25% concessionary discount for elderly and disabled passengers (As the elderly and disabled passengers previously received a 50 per cent discount on the original base rate fare, the real terms discount now is 7 per cent) and a 50% discount for junior and full-time students.

The change in fare structure came following additional Scottish Government funding of around £725,000 during 2021/22 which will be subject to review each year. The funding was for passenger and vehicle fares only so there has been no change to the commercial rates applied by Orkney Ferries Ltd and they will require to be considered separately.

Laura Cromarty continued: “The priority this year was to roll out the revised fare structure during 2021/22 to make full use of the funding available and to evidence the need for continued funding in subsequent years. Therefore, it was not possible to carry out a full consultation exercise with the communities in advance.

“Now the revised fare structure has been introduced, the Transportation Service would like to hear your thoughts via the survey. This information shall form the basis of a report which will be presented to Elected Members for consideration of budget setting for 2022/23 financial year.”

Paper copies are available on request by emailing the Council's Transportation team or calling 0185687 535 ext. 3637.

Please respond to the survey by Thursday 30 September.