Puerto Rico to get $1.2M in federal ferry boat program funding
Puerto Rico will receive $1,191,331 from the Federal Highway Administration’s Ferry Boat Program to improve publicly owned terminals and vessels, the U.S. Department of Transportation said.
The funding is part of $175 million being distributed to 35 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa.
Funds may be used to construct and operate ferry boats, terminals and maintenance facilities. Eligible projects include ferries carrying both cars and passengers, or passengers only, when service is on a public route where building a bridge or tunnel is not feasible.
Integrated Transportation Authority (ATI, in Spanish) Executive Director Josué Menéndez said the formula funds will be used to rehabilitate the Maritime Transportation Maintenance Base, where maintenance and major repairs, including dry dock, will be done “in-house, without having to ship vessels to St. Thomas or the continental United States.”
The program aims to improve mobility, fill transportation gaps and provide access to communities without other travel options. The FHWA says improvements can increase ridership and relieve congestion on nearby highways.
Under the program, federal-aid highway formula funds are distributed through state transportation departments for acquiring ferry boats, making capital improvements to facilities, covering operational costs and, when eligibility requirements are met, designing and constructing new ferry infrastructure and acquiring right-of-way, or land needed for ferry-related infrastructure.
