MARAD announces $25 million in funding for America’s Marine Highway Program

The US Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) has announced the availability of $25 million in funding for the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP).

The program supports the development and expanded use of America’s navigable waterways and will help improve US supply chains and the overall movement of goods throughout the county.

The new resources represent the largest single appropriation of funding ever provided to the AMHP and were made possible through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

“America’s waterways are a vital means for getting goods onto our shelves and into our homes,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

“Thanks to these investments, and others like them in the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we can help create jobs, reduce delays, and strengthen our critical supply chains for decades to come.”

Acting Maritime Administrator Lucinda Lessley added: “This historic funding for the Marine Highways program will expand waterborne transportation options while helping project sponsors increase energy conservation, improve safety, reduce landside infrastructure costs, and reduce travel delays caused by congestion.

“This investment will also create well-paying maritime jobs.”

The AMHP aims to relieve landside congestion, provide new and efficient transportation options, and increase the productivity of the surface transportation system.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will also rebuild America’s roads, bridges, and rails; upgrade and expand public transit, modernise the country’s ports, and help tackle the climate crisis.

For an organisation to be eligible for a grant award, a project must have previously been designated as a Marine Highway Project by the Secretary of Transportation.

Back in December 2021, MARAD awarded $12.6 million grants to nine highway projects under the AMHP.

The funding went toward enhancing the movement of goods in Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

https://www.porttechnology.org/news/marad-announces-25-million-in-funding-for-americas-marine-highway-program/