US Department of Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy has announced that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) intends to invest 657 million USD into ferry services and infrastructure across America.
The FTA’s ferry grant programmes will aim to help modernise terminal infrastructure, launch new ferry routes and fund new ferries to connect American citizens to their jobs, as well as new communities.
In an effort to ‘make travel more family-friendly’; the USDOT has outlined a number of criteria for project selection; including specification on how a project will make ferry travel more family-friendly and improve access to jobs, doctor’s offices, and leisure activities; how a project will improve the accessibility of transportation for families with young children, including those with strollers, and increase accessibility for people with disabilities, including persons with intellectual, developmental, sensory, or mobility disabilities; and how a project will make real-time information in passenger waiting areas easier to read by using large print and simplified language.
Applicants are encouraged to submit any and all eligible projects by 11 May 2026.
US Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said:Under President Trump, America is building again and that includes our nation’s ferry fleet responsible for moving American families.
This investment will expand routes and fund new ferries to give American workers and families more transportation options in both rural and urban cities.
