FERRIES Act

Key Points

• The FERRIES Act would invest roughly $3.5 billion over five years (2027–2031) across four grant programs for passenger ferry services, including construction of ferry boats and terminals, urban ferry grants, rural ferry service, and fleet modernization.
• Rural communities would receive $1.25 billion in competitive grants for essential ferry service, with at least 80% of funds going to services connecting communities not served by other public transit. The program expands eligibility to routes connecting two or more rural areas.
• Urban areas would get $1.25 billion in additional transit grants for passenger ferry services, and the bill more than triples the existing apportionment cap from $30 million to $100 million for urban ferry grants.
• The bill creates a permanent Ferry Fleet Modernization and Shipyard Job Creation Grant Program with $500 million in funding, converting what was a pilot program under the 2021 infrastructure law into an ongoing program codified in federal law.
• All funding comes from the general Treasury and is designed to be additional — it won't reduce existing transportation funding or be subject to annual spending caps on highway or transit programs.