Here in Washington state most of us are aware of the importance of the ferry system to our communities. But it may surprise you to learn that nationally, ferries carry more than 100 million passengers annually and operate in at least 38 states. That's more passengers than Amtrak and more than 70% of the nation's commuter rail systems. Washington isn't the only state where ferries connect highways and transit systems, and provide transportation and supplies for isolated communities.

Ferry systems face the same funding challenges as other transportation modes, but recently got some good news. USDOT announced recently there is approximately $40 million available nationwide for USDOT to award via a competitive grant program for qualifying ferry projects. This is because Congress did not fully earmark the 2010 Ferry Boat Discretionary (FBD) account.

FHWA requires WSDOT to review and prioritize local agency and WSF requests before submitting them to FHWA. WSDOT will be forming a review panel that includes WSDOT and non-WSDOT representatives to evaluate applications and determine which have the best chance of being selected by FHWA for funding.

Applications are due to Larry Ehl at WSDOT (ehll@wsdot.wa.gov) by COB Friday, April 30th.

• April 30: Deadline for local agencies to submit applications to WSDOT. Applications will be evaluated against FHWA’s selection criteria (listed below, and in the Application attached).

• May 14: Deadline for WSDOT to submit prioritized state and local applications to the FHWA Division (Olympia) office. That office is responsible for reviewing all applications to ensure they are complete and meet the eligibility and submission requirements.

• May 21: Deadline for FHWA Division office to submit applications to USDOT HQ. The latter will review applications and select the grant awards.

Some key points from FHWA’s guidance
• Approximately $40 million is available nationwide for grant awards.
• Applications should be submitted only for projects that will fully obligate awarded funding by August 31, 2011.
• Due to the expected high demand for this funding, it is anticipated that individual project awards would not exceed $3 million. Applicants should take this into consideration.
• Applications must be submitted in MS Word format.
• Public entities may apply; private entities are not eligible.

If you have questions, or need the documents please contact me at ehll@wsdot.wa.gov.