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 honest part of the answer is everything else. 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 a fare that would make a taxi blush. Add the stretches of North Road and Moshup Trail where your phone has no service at all, and you have the rule this page is built around: down-island, the app is fine; up-island and after dark, 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.
The taxi vans at the Vineyard Haven ferry terminal: the reliable ride when the boat comes in.
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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 produces three predictable 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, and this is the part the apps do not tell you, availability collapses 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.
None of that makes the apps useless. It makes them 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.
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 for the people who would rather not think about any of this.
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 ask the fare when you call; a good dispatcher will quote it before the car moves.
The VTA on Beach Road: fare-free through June 30, 2027, and the answer to most rides that are not late at night.
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Chilmark, Menemsha and Aquinnah are where the plan matters. 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, do one of three things 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 arrange to ride with someone who drove. Do not plan on summoning a ride from the Aquinnah Circle at 10:30 on a Saturday night. We have tried.
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: from the Aquinnah cliffs, 10:05 PM on summer Saturdays and 9:05 PM on weekdays after August 28, on Route 5 to West Tisbury Town Hall, where Route 3 meets it for Vineyard Haven (last one 10:36 PM). The 11:05 PM run printed in the summer brochure was cancelled for all of 2026. From June 19 to August 30 a summer sunset bus (Route 12) shuttles 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: the schedule on the board is the one to photograph before dinner.
Down-island in daylight, use whatever is closest. For a night out, call a cab before last call. For any evening up-island, book the return before you go or know the last bus by heart, and carry the taxi numbers on paper because the signal will not always be there. If your whole trip is up-island, read the honest case for a car; for one or two nights down-island you will never need one.
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