Dept. of Public Works ferry on the St. Thomas-St. John route. Photo Credit: THE V.I. DEPT. OF PUBLIC WORKS.
A new ferry servicing the St. Thomas-St. John route is one step closer to becoming a reality, as the Department of Public Works announced on Thursday that it had secured grant funding of $1.7 million from the Federal Transit Administration's Passenger Ferry Grant Program to complete the purchase.
Last year, DPW received over $5 million towards the ferry purchase, short of the $6.8 million price tag. As Transportation Planner Andrew Ray explained, "The funding source (the FTA grant) typically does not go above $5 million for a single award,” Mr. Ray said. “We received $5.1 million from the fiscal year 2021 round of the competitive grant. We applied again in fiscal year 2022 to see if we could get the remainder needed to fully fund it and we were successful in getting an additional 1.7 million."
DPW was one of twelve agencies nationwide chosen as grant winners for the program, which "provides competitive funding for projects that support passenger ferry systems in urbanized areas. Funds are awarded based on infrastructure needs and benefit to riders," according to a release from DPW.
The new ferry will complement the two VITRAN vessels already on the STT-STJ route. DPW says it is looking to bolster the St. Croix-St. Thomas route as well, at an unspecified time in the future.
