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The Island Ferries Have No Veteran Fare — Read From the Tariff Itself

The Maine State Ferry Service tariff is the whole fare authority for the six island routes, and it names every concession it gives: children under six free, a minor fare, free passage for island school students and school employees, complimentary walk-on passage for retired ferry service employees, and a five-for-four commuter book. There is no veteran fare, no disabled-veteran fare, and no Purple Heart or Medal of Honor provision anywhere in it.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

The Maine State Ferry Service tariff is the whole fare authority for the six island routes, and it names every concession it gives: children under six free, a minor fare, free passage for island school students and school employees, complimentary walk-on passage for retired ferry service employees, and a five-for-four commuter book. There is no veteran fare, no disabled-veteran fare, and no Purple Heart or Medal of Honor provision anywhere in it.

What it's worth: No veteran or disabled-veteran fare exists — budget the published adult fare

  • The finding is about the state-run ferry service on the Rockland, Lincolnville and Bass Harbor routes. Privately operated ferries and the Casco Bay Lines district set their own fares and were not read.
  • Fares change by tariff revision. The figures here are from Tariff No. 10.2, effective 26 November 2024.

Who is entitled to it

  • This record is about what the ferry tariff does and does not give a veteran household.
  • You live in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Budget the published adult fare. Round trip Lincolnville to Islesboro is $9.00 off-peak and $15.00 in peak season; Bass Harbor to Swan’s Island or Frenchboro and Rockland to North Haven or Vinalhaven are $14.00 off-peak and $20.25 in peak; Rockland to Matinicus is $25.00 year round.
  2. 2Peak season is 1 June to 30 September. An off-peak ticket can be used in peak season by buying an upgrade for the difference; a peak ticket used off-peak gets no refund.
  3. 3If you travel the same route often, the commuter book is the only real saving available to a veteran: five commuter tickets for the price of four. They are non-transferable, good for one round trip a day, and expire fourteen days after purchase.
  4. 4Children under six travel free and six to seventeen pay the minor fare, so a family trip is cheaper than the adult fare suggests.
  5. 5Vehicle and motorcycle tickets include the driver, so do not buy a passenger ticket on top of a vehicle ticket for yourself.
  6. 6Do not ask for a veteran discount at the terminal window expecting one to exist. If the service ever adds one it will appear in a new tariff item, and the tariff is published in full on the department’s own site.
  7. 7Item 24 of the tariff sets medical priorities and Item 12 sets priority transportation and reserved spaces. Those are boarding priorities rather than fares, and they are the provisions worth reading if a hospital trip is the reason for the crossing.
Form
Nothing to claim
File with
Maine Department of Transportation, Maine State Ferry Service
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThis is a published absence, carried at zero weight. It is here because a veteran planning an island trip should not spend an afternoon looking for a discount that the fare authority does not contain.
Worth knowingThe tariff was searched for "veteran", "military", "disabled", "Purple" and "Honor". The only hit on "disability" is Item 13, about towing a vehicle with a dead battery off the vessel — a disabled vehicle, not a disabled person.
Worth knowingThe turnpike is a separate question and it is not answered here. The Maine Turnpike Authority runs its own toll and discount programmes on its own site, which could not be reached from this network this session.

Sources

Why only one source type: A tariff is a single instrument and it is its own authority — the fares it does not contain do not exist. The department’s fares and schedules page repeats the same figures and points to this tariff for the definitions, so there is no second body of rules to read.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.