The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) will make millions available in grants to improve the nation’s ferry services
US$316M will be available to modernise passenger ferry services across the country which serve approximately 3M Americans every month.
The Notice of Funding Opportunity includes the FTA’s longstanding Passenger Ferry Program which supports capital projects to buy, replace or modernise passenger ferries, terminals and related equipment in urban areas. US$51M has been made available for 2024.
The largest grant will look to expand ferry services in rural areas. The Ferry Service for Rural Communities Program will make US$216M available including capital, planning and operating costs.
The Electric or Low Emitting Ferry Program will allot US$49M in federal funding in 2024 to transit agencies to purchase ferries that reduce emissions by using alternative fuels or onboard energy storage systems.
“Passenger ferries provide critical, cost-effective travel for people throughout the United States, but many ferry agencies are not able to maintain all of their vessels in a state of good repair and make necessary investments in safety," said FTA acting administrator Veronica Vanterpool.
“FTA is pleased to provide federal support to help modernise and expand how people travel by water while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, advancing equity by making transit available to more people and creating good-paying jobs.”
Complete proposals must be submitted electronically through Grants.Gov by 17 June 2024. Instructions for applying and eligibility information can be found on FTA’s website and in GRANTS.GOV (FTA-2024-007-TPM-PassFerry), (FTA-2024-009-TPM-Rural Ferry) and (FTA-2024-008-TPM-FERRYPILOT).
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