The approximately $68.5 million M/V Tustamena will replace this nearly 60-year-old ferry with a new diesel-electric vessel. The new vessel will serve rural Southwest Alaska.
WASHINGTON (KINY) – Alaska communities that rely on ferry services to connect with the rest of the state are seeing significant improvements with increased funding for the Alaska Marine Highway announced Wednesday, Jan. 26. You can see
The Federal Transportation Administration has committed approximately $286 million to improve access for 35 coastal communities, primarily focusing on rural communities.
The funds will improve access to jobs, schools and health care for Alaskans. Ferry services remain important to those living in small coastal towns and Alaskan villages.
“For so many people in Alaska, ferries remain the only access opportunity,” said FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez. “Every American should have a chance to get a better job, an easier way to visit family, access to health care, and a better way to live. Thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, We are investing in passenger ferries across Alaska that provide those opportunities while reducing our impact on the beautiful climate of this amazing state.”
The grant to the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Works is part of a total of $384.4 million in federal funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Act to expand and improve ferry services in communities across the country and reduce costs to zero. Accelerate the transition to emissions. transportation.
This funding will benefit the millions of Americans who depend on coastal waters, rivers, bays and other bodies of water to connect to their communities, from Alaska to Michigan to Maryland.
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities was selected to fund six projects, including:
• $46.2 million to build an electric ferry that will improve essential transportation to rural port communities while reducing emissions and improving the sustainability of Alaska’s ferry system.
• Approximately $68.5 million to replace nearly 60-year-old ferries with new diesel-electric vessels. The new vessel will serve rural Southwest Alaska, improve service reliability, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and maintain a critical transportation lifeline.
• Approximately $8.6 million for plans to replace aging ferries with diesel-electric hybrid vessels and development of functional designs for new vessels.
• $44.8 million to operate the Alaska Marine Highway System. The system runs his 3,500 miles and serves 35 Alaskan communities with low transportation access and high transportation costs.
• Invested approximately $72.1 million to modernize four vessels on the Alaska Marine Highway to ensure continued service reliability and continued transportation service quality.
• Approximately $45.5 million to upgrade dock infrastructure in five rural communities in Alaska. These upgrades will allow the ferry to serve three disadvantaged small rural communities and two rural hub communities, including replacing the 40-year-old infrastructure of one of its most active ferry terminals, the Auke ferry terminal. can continue to serve the The upgrade will allow the facility to accommodate additional ferries and move forward with uninterrupted service.
In total, the FTA has awarded 23 grants in 11 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The grant will help replace old vessels, expand the fleet and build new terminals and docks.
About $100 million of the state grants will be used for low-emission ferries, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. See the full list of grants here.
Funding made available through three FTA competitive grant programs will reduce emissions by facilitating ferry services in rural areas, modernizing urban ferry systems and accelerating adoption of zero-emission technologies .
The FTA’s Rural Ferry Services Program provides states with competitive funding for rural ferry services. The FTA has awarded him $252.4 million to his eight projects in four states.
The FTA’s Electric or Low Emission Ferry Pilot Program provides competitive funding for electric or low emission ferries and charging equipment that use alternative fuels or on-board energy storage systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The FTA has awarded $97.6 million to seven projects in seven states.
The FTA’s Passenger Ferry Grants program supports capital projects to establish new ferry services and to repair and modernize urban ferry vessels, terminals, facilities and equipment. The FTA awards his $34.4 million to her eight projects in six states and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Projects were selected for funding based on the criteria set forth in the Opportunity Funding Notice. In response to the Opportunity Funding Notice, the FTA received 47 eligible applications in 16 states and one region, totaling approximately $602 million in applications.
Senator Markowski said Alaska receives nearly 75% of the funding because it is the state with the most coastal areas. She made her statement at her Zoom meeting on Thursday, announcing how important her ferry services are to the coastal region.
“For these small communities, it’s their lifeline. It’s important what it means for Cordova, what these dock improvements mean for Juno. Realize that Tustamena will eventually be replaced. Thing.We call it the Rusty Tusty.She’s durable.She’s tough but has a pretty long lifespan for a ship out in Pacific waters.The final instead of her It is extraordinary to be able to move forward in a meaningful way.
