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Uber and Lyft work down-island on Martha's Vineyard in daylight; up-island in Chilmark, Menemsha and Aquinnah they are scarce, nearly impossible late at night and expensive, and there are stretches with no cell service. The ten taxi companies with phone numbers, published zone fares, the free bus and its last runs, and how to plan the ride home.
Yes, Uber and Lyft work on Martha’s Vineyard, and for a ride between the ferry and an Oak Bluffs or Edgartown hotel on a July afternoon they work about the way they do anywhere. The rest of the island is a different story. Drive up-island to Chilmark, Menemsha or Aquinnah and the apps thin out fast; try to get one back from there late at night and you can spend half an hour watching the map with no car on it, then pay more than a taxi would charge. Add the stretches of North Road and Moshup Trail where your phone has no service at all. Down-island, the app is fine; up-island and after dark, it's best to plan the ride before you need it. Checked in September 2026 against the taxi companies’ own rate sheets, the airport’s taxi list and the VTA timetables.
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Both apps operate on the island with a small pool of mostly seasonal drivers who live and work down-island. That leads to three patterns. First, cars cluster in Vineyard Haven, Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, so a pickup in those towns in daylight is usually minutes away. Second, demand spikes when ferries land and on weekend nights, and the apps answer with surge pricing; the same ride can cost two or three times the afternoon fare at 12:30 AM on a Saturday. Third, availability drops off sharply up-island. We have stood on the Aquinnah Circle and at the Menemsha parking lot at night with the app open and no car within fifteen miles, and when one does accept, the fare reflects the empty drive out to get you. In the off-season the pool shrinks again, and in the middle of the island your phone may have no signal to request anything at all.
So the apps are a down-island, daytime tool. For everything else the island has a taxi system that predates the apps and still works, and a bus that is free.
A vintage Checker cab parked under the trees: the island’s cab trade predates any app.
Taxi vans lined up outside the Steamship Authority terminal in Vineyard Haven at the end of the day. Most island cabs are vans, which matters when four people and their bags come off a boat.
Ten licensed cab companies serve the island and the airport publishes the list; most run vans, which matters when four people and their bags come off a boat. The two that advertise round-the-clock service are All Island Taxi (508-693-2929) and Adam Cab (508-627-4462). The others on the airport’s list: Admiral Cab and Martha’s Vineyard Taxi (508-693-8660), Atlantic (508-693-7111), Bluefish Taxi (508-627-7373), Island Sharks Taxi (508-560-1523), Lighthouse Taxi (508-645-6066), Stagecoach Taxi (508-627-4566) and Your Taxi (508-693-0003). Vineyard Coach and Concierge (888-693-3006) runs a reservation-only town car service.
Fares are quoted by zone rather than by meter. Stagecoach publishes its ranges, which are typical of the island; the low end is a short hop inside the zone and the high end is the far edge of it. The base fare covers two people.
| From | To Vineyard Haven | To Oak Bluffs | To Edgartown | To the airport |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vineyard Haven (Tisbury) | $10–30 | $16–44 | $30–59 | $30–59 |
| Oak Bluffs | $16–44 | $12–23 | $19–35 | $30–40 |
| Edgartown | $30–59 | $19–35 | $10–30 | $30–40 |
| West Tisbury | $20–35 | $28–47 | $30–52 | $30–52 |
| Chilmark and Menemsha | $47–61 | $47–61 | $47–61 | $47–61 |
| Aquinnah | $75–80 | $75–80 | $75–80 | $75–80 |
Extras on that sheet: $4 for each person beyond two, $4 for a dog, $4 for a bike, $3 to $20 for extra bags, $4 per stop, $1.20 a minute of waiting, $2 per quarter mile of dirt road, and $72 an hour if you keep the cab. Other companies set their own ranges, so it's worth asking the fare when you call; a good dispatcher will quote it before the car moves.
A VTA bus out on an open road, fare-free through June 30, 2027, and good for most rides that are not late at night.
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Chilmark, Menemsha and Aquinnah are where planning ahead pays off. Cell coverage fades in the hollows of North Road and along Moshup Trail, so the app you meant to open may not load; the drivers are all down-island, so a request that does go through can sit unanswered; and the fares, when a car finally comes, start from the far end of the island. If you are having dinner in Menemsha or watching the sunset at the cliffs without a car, sort out the ride home before you leave town: reserve a cab for a set pickup time (the dispatchers do this all summer), check the last bus and be on it, or ride with someone who drove. Summoning a ride from the Aquinnah Circle at 10:30 on a Saturday night rarely works. We have tried.
Inside a bus shelter, with a harbor and its moored boats through the glass. Several routes start right at the ferry terminals.
A VTA bus at the Vineyard Haven stop. The bus is fare-free through June 30, 2027; up-island, the last run is what to watch.
The VTA is free through June 30, 2027, on every route, and it reaches all six towns. Route 13 links the three down-island towns every fifteen to thirty minutes into the evening. Up-island, the numbers that matter are the last departures. On the off-season timetable (October 4 to April 15) the last bus leaves the Gay Head Lighthouse at 6:05 PM and Menemsha Beach at 5:01 PM, while Routes 1 and 13 keep running down-island until about 10 to 11 PM. Our bus route finder has every connection. The 11:05 PM run printed in the summer brochure was canceled for all of 2026. From June 19 to August 30 a summer sunset bus (Route 12) ran between the Chilmark lot on Tabor House Road and Menemsha Beach until half an hour after sunset. All the routes, transfer stops and timetables are in our bus guide.
The Edgartown bus shelter, with the route map on the board. A photo of it before dinner saves a guess later.
Down-island in daylight, whatever is closest works. For a night out, a cab called before last call is the easy way home. For any evening up-island, book the return before you go or know the last bus, and keep the taxi numbers on paper because the signal will not always be there. If your whole trip is up-island, our car-or-no-car guide is worth reading; for one or two nights down-island you will not need one. If you are deciding between the two, the VTA’s live map at vta.mytransitride.com shows whether a bus is on its way, and it's handy to bookmark.
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Yes, down-island and in daylight. Cars cluster in Vineyard Haven, Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, so a pickup there is usually minutes away. Up-island, after dark and in the off-season the apps thin out, and a ride back from Menemsha or Aquinnah late at night may not come at all.
Fares are quoted by zone, not by meter, and the base fare covers two people. Down-island hops run about $10 to $59, Chilmark to anywhere about $47 to $61, and Aquinnah to the down-island towns $75 to $80. Airport cabs are $30 to $59 from the three ferry towns.
All Island Taxi (508-693-2929) and Adam Cab (508-627-4462) advertise round-the-clock service. Eight more licensed companies are on the airport’s list, most running vans, and Vineyard Coach and Concierge runs a reservation-only town car.
The VTA bus, which is fare-free through June 30, 2027 and leaves from the same curb as the ferries and the taxis. From October 4 to April 15 it runs on the off-season timetable: every 30 minutes between the down-island towns and about every two hours up-island.
Book a taxi about twenty minutes before last call, which in Oak Bluffs is 12:30 AM, when every app rider in town wants a car at the same minute and the apps answer with surge pricing that can double or triple the afternoon fare.
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