The nation’s ferries have received a major financial boost as the Biden Administration has set aside $384.4 million in grants to modernize ferry services.
As part of the $350 billion bipartisan infrastructure law passed last fall, the Federal Transit Administration awarded 23 grants across 11 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands, reduce emissions and expand service in rural areas. Funds will be used to replace old vessels, expand fleets and build new terminals and docks.
The federal grants will be administered by a trio of ferry programs:
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The FTA’s Ferry Service for Rural Communities Program − $252.4 million for eight projects in four states;
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The Electric or Low-Emitting Ferry Pilot Program − $97.6 million for seven projects in seven states to fund the use of alternative fuels or onboard energy systems; and,
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The Passenger Ferry Grant Program – $34.4 million for eight projects in six states and the U.S. Virgin Islands to develop new ferry service, repair and modernize vessels, terminals, facilities and equipment in urban areas.
Ed Welch, legislative director of the Passenger Vessel Association in Alexandria, Vir., called the grants an “encouraging sign the government is expanding the various types of aid programs,” to a form of transportation that in many states, serves as a lifeline for rural locales which aren’t linked to highways.
“Other places are important cogs in the transportation system, such as the Staten Island Ferry in New York, which transports commuters, and showed value on 9/11 in evacuating people,” he says, adding that the San Francisco Bay ferry has also shown its importance as an emergency vessel during natural disasters, such as earthquakes.
Targeted funds, he says, “will allow states to jumpstart low-emission efforts, which are costly and challenging to develop without federal resources. Grant programs do provide the incentive. I think the government realizes that, just like other industries, if there are incentives, people are more likely to do it.”
Where are the funds going?
Mark Higgins, director of ferry service for the State of Maine, called the grant “very beneficial. They will definitely help operations, and will allow us to move at a faster pace.”
The Maine Department of Transportation will receive $28 million to acquire a hybrid-electric ferry to replace a 35-year-old vessel that serves the 600 residents of Islesboro, a rural island community located in upper Penobscot Bay, who rely on passenger ferry service to connect them with the mainland.
The new 150-foot hybrid vessel, which is due for delivery at the end of the year, will accept 23 vehicles and 250 passengers. Additionally, a 207-foot double-ended electric ferry currently in design phase, will be built to replace the Margaret Chase Smith, a 160-foot ferry in service since 1978.
According to Higgins, an additional $4 million will go toward maintaining the state’s existing ferry service which provides access to jobs, healthcare and other services to Maine’s rural residents.
“It is important to adapt new technology as it becomes available to be more stable, more environmentally friendly,” Higgins says. “It’s not just emissions, it is also sound for marine life and the quality of the trip, which will be quieter. That’s what drives us here. I’m pretty excited about these two ferries.”
On the West Coast, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is receiving $5 million to renovate the Cabrillo Mole Ferry Intermodal Terminal in the City of Avalon, on Santa Catalina Island, about 29 miles south-southwest of Long Beach, Calif.
The Catalina Express, which provides service for those traveling to and from the mainland, is operated by private company which leases space from the city, according to Jamie Hmielak, maintenance superintendent for the City of Avalon.
The ferry – which he calls the “lifeline of the island” − is used by tourists and commuters, although cruise ship tenders also use the Terminal to land passengers.
“The only other way visitors can get into town would be by helicopter,” he says. While private boaters use a pier to load and offload passengers, 95% of tourists and residents use the Terminal to get to and from the island, where the population swells from 4,000 residents to 10,000 visitors per day during the peak summer tourist season.
As part of that project, the building on the site will be raised to support electric ferries and climate resiliency. The current condition of the terminal is dire, he said. The main building is literally falling apart, with the whole wharf shifting and moving.
“If we didn’t get the grant, the terminal would shut down. It would kill the town,” says Hmielak.
The revitalization will create a more usable space, replacing the main ticket building, and creating a new building that will house several businesses, and rerouting traffic flow in and out of the location.
On the Gulf Coast, New Orleans’ Regional Transit Authority has laid-out plans to modernize the Algiers Point Ferry Terminal and the 43-year-old Algiers maintenance facility.
Lona Edwards Hankins, interim CEO of the Authority, called the projects an opportunity to provide high-quality infrastructure upgrades in a city that desperately needs it, a community where, he says, “people have been overpromised and underdelivered.”
The Algiers Point Ferry, operates from the edge of the city’s French Quarter, while the Chalmette/Lower Algiers ferry transports cars, as well as pedestrians, bikes and scooters. While both ferries had been seen as slow and inefficient, a newer, high-speed ferry purchased in 2018 has turned the 40-minute ride into a 15-minute commute, making ferry service a viable commuting option.
“Many workers find it very efficient, rather than getting on the bus and crossing the bridge in traffic,” Hankins said.
The Lower Algiers maintenance facility, built in 1982, is also due for an upgrade, Hankins told Professional Mariner. A second floor is being added for office space, and as a rest stop for ferry operators and the lower level is being reconfigured to provide ferry riders with shelter from the elements.
Alaska is receiving significant grant funding to improve its ferry system while additional funding is being earmarked for an electric ferry in Georgia; dock modernization and solar powered ferries in Massachusetts; electric ferries and dock improvements in Maryland; and shipyard modernization in North Carolina.
Also slated for funding are marine infrastructure improvements and diesel ferry conversion in New Jersey; additions to a ferry fleet in the U.S. Virgin Islands; and the construction of an electric charging facility, the upgrades to an electronic payment system, and building of a new terminal in Washington State.