Actually, Government intervention in the form enforcing service level requirements through its power of granting and regulating public franchises is key. Currently the worst possible combination of government cronyism and abandonment of its regulatory responsibility exists.

That is true on both ends of the route. While the STT taxi associations are an obsticle to a unified service from the airport to Tortola, the real problem is the close relationship between one of the ferry companies and the USVI Ports Authority. As far as the taxi objection is concerned, the current franchises expire in January 2018 and the ST. Thomas Dept of Tourism, the Hotel Association and the Chamber of Commerce are lined up to weaken the exclusivity even more than they managed in 2012. In 2012 the taxis at STT were required to dedicate several lanes exclusively to individual resorts. Hopefully the same will be required for the ferry terminal in future regulations. Also, with a reliable ferry and central ticketing the rate of advanced reservation will increase allowing the ferry system to provide limosine service to and from the airport.

The real problem is landing rights at Blyden terminal and Smiths and Native Son both have a lot of influence with the USVI Ports Authority. Unless they are brought into a cooperative arangement any improvement in the ferry service will be impossible.