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The VTA Route 13 bus from Vineyard Haven to Edgartown on video: the route past the hospital, Oak Bluffs and State Beach to Church Street, the off-season timetable (first and last buses, Friday and Saturday late trips), the flag-stop rules, bike racks and connections. Every ride is fare-free through June 30, 2027.
The Route 13 bus is the ride most visitors take first: out of the Steamship terminal in Vineyard Haven, past the hospital, through Oak Bluffs by the ferry pier, along State Beach with the water on both sides and into Edgartown at Church Street. It runs about every 30 minutes all year, every ride on the island is fare-free through June 30, 2027, and the whole trip is on video below. This page is the ride, the timetable as the VTA posts it for this winter, and the small rules that make flagging a bus on Martha’s Vineyard easy.
Filmed May 2022The island moves on: shops, signs and prices may differ from what you see here. The text of this guide was checked November 2026.
The VTA stop by the Steamship terminal in Vineyard Haven. Routes 1 and 13 end here, every half hour, and the ride is free through June 30, 2027.
A VTA bus at the Steamship terminal in Vineyard Haven, with a bike loaded on the rack folded down at the front.
The VTA stop at the Vineyard Haven ferry on an August day. Every ride on the island is free through June 30, 2027, and the live map tells you where the bus is.
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Route 13 takes the long way round, by the water. From the Vineyard Haven Steamship stop it heads out Beach Road past Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, crosses the drawbridge over Lagoon Pond, and stops at the Oak Bluffs Steamship pier, where it pauses before carrying on. Then comes the best stretch: Beach Road along Joseph Sylvia State Beach, Sengekontacket Pond on one side and Nantucket Sound on the other, over the two bridges (the big one is the Jaws Bridge) and into Edgartown, where the route ends at the Church Street stop beside the Old Whaling Church, with the Visitor Center restrooms behind the shelter. At State Beach the bus stops at the Bend in the Road crosswalk and at the posted stops by each bridge. If you want the inland road instead, Route 1 runs Edgartown to Vineyard Haven along the Edgartown–Vineyard Haven Road, also every 30 minutes.
Bus 116 on Route 13, paused at the Oak Bluffs ferry stop with the pier out the window. It came from Edgartown along Beach Road and carries on to Vineyard Haven; the sign on the pole says Route 13 buses to Vineyard Haven load on this side of the street.
The hospital entrance on Beach Road between Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs, mid-September: a utility crew and a police detail holding traffic. Roadwork season starts the week the crowds leave, so give the Beach Road drive a few extra minutes in the shoulder months.
A Route 13 bus to Edgartown at the Oak Bluffs seawall. The same VTA buses stop outside the airport terminal and run fare-free to every town.
A Route 13 bus on the big bridge over Sengekontacket’s inlet, two people fishing from the platform beside it. Edgartown’s pond map says a red flag at Big Bridge or Little Bridge means the pond is closed to shellfishing.
The paved bike path runs the length of State Beach between Beach Road and the dunes.
A timber bus shelter in Edgartown with the trees still bare and the restrooms right behind it. The downtown VTA hub is on Church Street, and the lot there fills early on summer mornings.
On the off-season timetable (October 4, 2026 to April 15, 2027) Route 13 runs every 30 minutes for most of the day. The first bus leaves Vineyard Haven at 5:55 AM and Church Street at 6:25 AM; the last regular trips leave Vineyard Haven at 10:00 PM and Church Street at 10:25 PM, and on Fridays and Saturdays there is one more, at 10:45 PM from Vineyard Haven and 11:10 PM from Church Street. Sunday to Thursday, Route 13 riders can ask for the 10:38 PM Route 10 bus to carry on to Oak Bluffs after its Park and Ride run. The timetable also notes that on Sundays and holidays between December 27 and March 7 a few of the first and last trips do not run, and that the evening trips marked x-Eve do not run on Christmas Eve. There are no buses at all on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day. Summer brings later evening trips and two extra routes; the VTA schedule page keeps the current first and last buses for every route.
Sign aboard a VTA bus announcing that buses are free to ride.
Inside a low-floor bus, with a wide aisle between the seats.
The VTA is a flag-stop system: besides the posted shelters, the driver will pick you up or drop you off anywhere along the route where it is safe, with a few rules from the Riders Guide. Be at the stop five minutes early, wait on the side of the road for your direction of travel (a bus cannot stop for someone waving from across the street), and expect no pick-ups or drop-offs on curves or at intersections. The buses kneel and carry wheelchairs, and the rack on the nose takes bikes, up to three, first come, first served, so a bus up and a ride back along the State Beach path is an easy plan. Besides the fixed routes the VTA runs the Lift, a paratransit service. No ticket, no app, no fare: you simply get on.
The rack on the nose of a VTA bus, loaded with two; VTA policy allows up to three, first come first served, and the ride is free through June 2027. When the wind turns or the legs give out on the Aquinnah run, this is the way home.
VTA public transit bus in Edgartown
The short clips below are the same trip in pieces: Vineyard Haven to Oak Bluffs to Edgartown in one, and the Oak Bluffs to Edgartown leg along State Beach in the other, filmed in the summer of 2022.
Filmed June 2022The island moves on: shops, signs and prices may differ from what you see here. The text of this guide was checked November 2026.
Filmed October 2022The island moves on: shops, signs and prices may differ from what you see here. The text of this guide was checked November 2026.
At Church Street in Edgartown, Route 8 makes four loops a day to South Beach, the new Route 14 Meshacket Loop circles past Morning Glory Farm every 90 minutes, and Route 6 links Edgartown with the airport and West Tisbury about every 90 minutes. In Oak Bluffs, Route 7 runs hourly to the airport. In Vineyard Haven, Route 10 shuttles between the Steamship terminal and the free Tisbury Park and Ride about every 15 minutes, and the up-island buses leave West Tisbury Town Hall every two hours in the off-season. Our car-free guide puts the whole network together, and the Edgartown walking tour starts where this ride ends.
A Route 6 VTA bus at the Entering Edgartown sign in October, the line that serves the airport.
The Edgartown bus shelter, with the route map on the board. A photo of it before dinner saves a guess later.
Yes. Every VTA route is fare-free through June 30, 2027 under a state program, including Route 13.
At the VTA stop right outside the Steamship terminal in Vineyard Haven, where Routes 1 and 13 both end; in Oak Bluffs, at the stop by the Steamship pier.
Yes, every 30 minutes for most of the day from October 4, 2026 to April 15, 2027, with no service on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day.
Both. The front rack takes up to three bikes, first come, first served, and every bus kneels and carries wheelchairs.
How we checked: the videos are ours, filmed on Route 13 in 2022. The off-season first and last buses, the flag-stop rules and the connecting routes are read off the VTA’s printed route map (revised September 25, 2026) and its Riders Guide, as kept up to date on our VTA schedule page. Last checked November 1, 2026.
Exploring the town? Start with our complete Vineyard Haven guide for food, beaches and parking.
Step 1 · WhenMonth PickerTwelve months compared on NOAA numbers, crowds, prices and what is open. 
Step 2 · DaysDay-by-Day Trip PlannerMorning, afternoon and evening sketched for every day, events dropped in, emailed to you. 
Step 3 · CostTrip Cost CalculatorFerry, beds with the rooms tax, meals, getting around and activities in one price range. From MV Vacation, written on Martha’s Vineyard · https://mvvacation.com/blog/vineyard-haven-to-edgartown-vta-bus-ride · printed . Hours, prices and schedules change; the page online is the current one.
Every boat off the island from late October to May leaves Vineyard Haven for Woods Hole. The full winter timetable, walk-on and car fares, what you see from the rail, and what to do on the Woods Hole side.
Cell service on Martha's Vineyard town by town: towers down-island, no tower in Chilmark or Aquinnah and the named dead spots, what each carrier reports to the FCC, free Wi-Fi at all six libraries and on the ferry, the $10 xfinitywifi pass, prepaid plans and 911 when you have no bars.
The twelve things that catch first-timers on Martha's Vineyard, from car reservations and the two ferry terminals to resident-only beaches, the last bus from Aquinnah and cash for the Chappy Ferry, each with an easy fix, plus the fall and winter dates.
EV charging on Martha's Vineyard: about 34 public stations, nearly all Level 2, listed town by town with ports and prices (the Edgartown Park and Ride, town halls, libraries, the airport, the Aquinnah cliffs), two fast-charging ports at the VTA, the Chilmark plans, no Supercharger, the ferry's EV rules, and how to run an electric week on a 20-mile island.
Parking for the Woods Hole ferry: there is none at the terminal, so here are the three Steamship Authority lots (Palmer Avenue, Thomas B. Landers, Cataumet), the 2026 rates ($25 a day April to October, $20 otherwise), the free shuttle timed to every sailing, when to arrive, the annual and off-season permits, the drop-off rule and the cheaper Island Queen lot in Falmouth Harbor.
Every public restroom we know of on Martha's Vineyard, town by town: the two ferry terminals (open year-round), Kennebec Avenue in Oak Bluffs, Church Street in Edgartown, the Stop and Shop lot in Vineyard Haven, West Tisbury Town Hall, the Menemsha beach lot and the Aquinnah cliffs, which beaches have them (not State Beach), what is seasonal, and the fallbacks that work in winter.
Island tip of the day Ferry No. 2 of 79 New tip at midnight, island time
Walk-on passengers never need a reservation on SSA ferries. $11 one-way: buy at the terminal or via the SSA eFerry mobile site. On peak summer weekends, arrive 30 minutes early to guarantee your seat.
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