From Friends of Hawaii's Ports 

*** BREAKING NEWS ***

On 2/28/2017, a Cooperative Agreement for an Inter-island Ferry System Feasibility Study was signed between the Hawaii Dept of Transportation (HDOT) and the US Maritime Administration.

In exchange for $500K in Federal Funds, HDOT "intends to solicit proposals from qualified and experienced entities with demonstrated knowledge of Hawaii’s ocean and the financial acumen in successfully operating, maintaining, and sustaining ferry services.

The entity will conduct a feasibility study for an inter-island/intra-island ferry service in the State of Hawaii. The entity will provide scenarios for an HDOT-owned, operated, maintained, and sustained ferry service, a fully private ferry service, and a public-private partnership ferry operation.

Should the HDOT determine that a private ferry operation or public-private partnership is the desired model for the proposed ferry service the entity shall develop a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit for potential commercial ferry operators to operate and maintain the proposed ferry service. The RFP shall include the criteria on which potential commercial ferry operators will be evaluated and selected to operate and maintain the proposed ferry service."

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