SOME ROADS ARE MADE OF WATER. THEY STILL HAVE TO WORK.

JUSTICE · SOCIAL JUSTICE

Published by Langhorne P. Breedlove

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2026 · 12:31 AM ET

Reading time: 9 minutes

Tags: Ferries · Public Transit · Navigation Locks · Waterways · Infrastructure · Coastal Communities

Dear fellow American proletariat: if the road to your job is a stretch of saltwater, an island channel or a navigable river, your transportation system probably has a captain. And if that captain's vessel is out of service, a perfectly ordinary commute can become a wonderfully expensive exercise in geography. You cannot simply ask the tide to run an extra bus.

American Proletariat proposes a coherent public-waterways policy: maintain reliable passenger ferries, modernize navigational locks and terminals, protect appropriate public access, and make the network safer, more resilient and financially accountable. These are different kinds of infrastructure with different owners and purposes. The aim is coordination, not pretending every boat is a bus and every lock is a ferry terminal.

THE MANDATE

AP would establish national service and asset-management standards for federally supported ferry routes, improve accessibility and essential connectivity, fund prioritized maintenance and replacement, modernize navigation infrastructure and safeguard public waterfront access where lawful and environmentally appropriate. Congress would define dedicated authorizations and appropriations while preserving state, local, Tribal and other operating responsibilities.

A proposed public transportation guarantee is not a promise of free ferry service on every creek. Essential service must be defined by actual needs: access to work, medical care, schools, emergency response, freight, and communities with few practical alternatives. The policy would examine fare relief and frequency together with operating subsidies. A free ticket on a canceled boat is a very economical way to arrive nowhere.

ROOTS · WATER WAS A HIGHWAY BEFORE HIGHWAYS

The United States developed ports, inland navigation systems, ferries and channels through layers of private, municipal, state and federal investment. Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers describes responsibility for maintaining 12,000 miles of inland and intracoastal waterways and 218 lock chambers at 176 inland sites (Source 01). Locks make it possible for vessels to travel between water elevations; they are indispensable to some commercial routes, but they do not function as passenger-ferry boarding ramps.

Modern federal ferry assistance is similarly divided. The Federal Highway Administration's Ferry Boat Program supports eligible ferry vessels and terminal facilities, including vehicle ferries acting as public-highway connections and certain fixed-route passenger facilities (Source 02). Separately, the Federal Transit Administration operates competitive programs for urban passenger ferries, rural service, and low- or zero-emitting ferry projects (Source 03). These overlapping programs need coordination, not duplicate funding claims.

TODAY · THE CROSSING HAS CONSEQUENCES

PUGET SOUND IS A PUBLIC-SERVICE TEST

Washington State Ferries carried 20.1 million riders during calendar year 2025, up 5% from 2024, and completed 98.6% of scheduled sailings. The agency attributed improvements partly to restoring domestic service and reducing crew-related cancellations (Source 04). This is a concrete illustration of what maritime transit means for commuters, islands and regional commerce; it is not a national passenger-ferry total.

The system's 2026 fact sheet describes 21 auto-passenger vessels, 20 terminals and a state-highway role serving eight Washington counties, including vital emergency medical connections for some islands (Source 05). Ferries are public infrastructure when the alternative is not merely inconvenient but an impossible drive.

INLAND LOCKS ARE AN ECONOMIC NETWORK

The Army Corps reports that the inland barge system moves more than 500 million tons of commodities annually, including agricultural products, energy products and manufactured goods (Source 06). These tonnages describe freight movements, not ferry ridership. A lock closure may delay barge traffic and shift cargo toward roads or rail, with consequences for costs, emissions, safety and logistics. Any claim of national savings from reconstruction must be tied to a particular project and credible freight forecasts.

PUBLIC ACCESS IS NOT A BLANK CHECK

Waterfronts include ports, fish habitat, wetlands, protected shorelines, working industrial areas, Tribal treaty interests, private parcels and public recreation sites. AP's proposal would pursue lawful access where it can coexist with navigation, conservation, safety and recognized rights. The public cannot be promised a new pier merely because a planner found blue space on a map.

THE PLAN · THREE CONNECTED SYSTEMS

01 · PASSENGER & VEHICLE FERRIES

Prioritize routes that provide essential connections. Require service plans identifying scheduled frequency, cancellations, backup vessels, staffing, wheelchair access, terminals, fares and emergency arrangements. Where a route is vital, establish resilient operating agreements rather than financing shiny replacement vessels without the crews or maintenance budgets to sail them.

Electrification and alternative propulsion should be evaluated by vessel class, charging infrastructure, electricity supply, route length, reliability and full life-cycle emissions. The FTA announced approximately $665 million in fiscal year 2026 ferry project selections across urban, rural and lower-emission programs; these are selected federal project funds, not the cost of AP's proposed nationwide policy (Source 03).

02 · LOCKS, CHANNELS & MARITIME MAINTENANCE

Develop a prioritized asset register covering the condition, failure risk, freight role, repair window and environmental impact of navigation locks and channels. Coordinate the Corps with commercial navigation users, states and affected communities. Evaluate repair versus replacement with credible disruptions, alternative routes and lifecycle costs, not political geography alone.

Waterway modernization must also account for dredging and habitat impacts. The Corps' navigation mission includes channel maintenance and dredging (Source 01). That work can support safe vessel passage while requiring environmental review, sediment management and consultation with affected authorities.

03 · WATERFRONT ACCESS & CONNECTIONS

Improve accessible docks, safe walkways, bicycle and transit connections, ferry terminal information, emergency boarding and public access at appropriate locations. Coordinate schedules with buses and rail so a passenger does not step off the last ferry and discover the last connecting bus departed seven minutes before it arrived. For rural and island communities, service quality is measured door to door.

THE LEGAL PATH

Congress can amend transportation statutes and appropriate federal assistance; the FHWA and FTA can administer funds within their respective authorities; and the Army Corps executes authorized navigation responsibilities. State and local governments generally retain important ownership, regulatory and operating functions. Tribal sovereignty, treaty obligations, maritime labor rules, vessel safety requirements, disability access, environmental review and land ownership cannot be overwritten by an attractive national slogan.

The FHWA program is administered through state transportation agencies, and its statutory authorities include 23 U.S.C. §§ 129(c) and 147 (Source 07). FTA's passenger-ferry program supports eligible capital investment but does not generally finance routine operating costs under that grant authority (Source 08). AP would need explicit authority and funding if it wants sustained operations, lower fares or service guarantees beyond existing programs.

THE DELIVERY SCHEDULE

FIRST TWO YEARS · INVENTORY & EMERGENCY REPAIR

Create a transparent national inventory of ferry routes, vessels, terminals, crew capacity, lock conditions and access gaps. Coordinate with current operators rather than build a parallel federal scheduling office. Fund only properly authorized critical repairs, reliability pilots and improved reporting, with measurable geographic and accessibility criteria.

YEARS THREE THROUGH FIVE · REBUILD & CONNECT

Advance projects with documented economic and mobility benefits, feasible environmental reviews, qualified crews and sustainable operations budgets. Integrate ferry ticketing and passenger information where operators agree and privacy protections permit. Modernize locks whose expected reliability and freight benefits justify capital costs.

YEARS SIX THROUGH TEN · MEASURE & ADJUST

Scale proven service models, replace vessels on credible lifecycle schedules, publish independent maintenance performance and terminate underperforming subsidies. Review the division of costs among federal, state, Tribal, local, user and commercial beneficiaries. Do not count a commissioned vessel as a success if it spends its first winter waiting for a qualified mechanic.

THE TEN-YEAR LEDGER

A defensible ten-year budget requires fiscal-year estimates for ferry vessels and terminals, dock accessibility, crew training and operations where newly authorized, lock rehabilitation, dredging where justified, alternative propulsion infrastructure, environmental mitigation, program administration and independent evaluation. Year one must be displayed separately. Existing federal funding is the baseline, not an additional pot of money AP can spend twice.

Under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, FHWA's Ferry Boat Program had total scheduled program funding of $186 million in fiscal year 2026, consisting of contract authority and advance appropriations (Source 09). Separately, the FTA's 2026 ferry project selections represent another federal funding mechanism (Source 03). Their scopes and recipients differ; adding headline amounts without evaluating actual obligations, timing and overlap would be misleading.

A national AP cost estimate remains unscored until there is a project inventory, unit costs, operating forecasts, projected staffing needs, local shares, project selection criteria and quantified maintenance backlog. Benefits should be reported separately as travel-time savings, avoided interruptions, freight reliability, accessibility or emissions changes where supported. Report low, central and high scenarios and financing assumptions. A ferry cannot sail on the strength of an optimistic spreadsheet.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG?

Capital grants can favor highly visible new vessels while maintenance and staff remain underfunded. Remote communities may have expensive routes with low ridership but high social importance. Dredging can affect aquatic ecosystems; electrification can fail if ports lack sufficient power or grid reliability; and resilience improvements can displace existing waterfront users. Maritime labor shortages and emergency repair capacity can make published schedules fiction.

Some critics will argue that scarce transportation funds should instead support bridges, buses, roads or freight rail. That argument must be addressed project by project. Where a bridge is feasible and socially preferable, analyze it; where an island has no bridge and cannot reasonably have one, stop pretending the ferry is a luxury. Freight-navigation investments likewise deserve comparisons with rail or roadway alternatives and their external costs.

MEASURING SUCCESS

Publish completed sailings, reliability by route, average cancellations, missed essential connections, accessibility compliance, operating subsidy per passenger, crew vacancy rates, preventive-maintenance completion, terminal condition, lock downtime, commercial delay hours and environmental outcomes. Specify calendar versus fiscal year, rider versus vehicle counts, and whether metrics measure actual benefit rather than spending.

An independent public dashboard should show which communities gained access, which experienced disruption during construction and which projects failed to meet projections. People who depend on the crossing deserve an explanation when the crossing does not work.

THE WATER IS NOT AN EXCUSE.

Social justice is not only a question of what happens inside a hospital, classroom or workplace. It is whether a person can reach those places in the first place. In some communities, the road is a ferry. In others, the lock is the difference between a working trade corridor and a stalled shipment. Both deserve competent management, but neither deserves mythology.

We are proposing a country that maintains the connections it already depends upon, funds the ones it can justify and tells the public the truth about the bill. The tide may be beyond our control. The maintenance schedule is not.

SOURCES & FURTHER READING

01 · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — Value to the Nation: Navigation; maintained waterways, locks, channels and dredging. https://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/Missions/Value-to-the-Nation/Navigation/

02 · Federal Highway Administration — Construction of Ferry Boats and Ferry Terminal Facilities Formula Program, updated March 27, 2025. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/specialfunding/fbp/

03 · Federal Transit Administration — FTA Ferry Programs; FY2026 project selections announced August 21, 2026. https://www.transit.dot.gov/grants/fta-ferry-programs

04 · Washington State Department of Transportation — State ferry ridership rises by nearly 1 million in 2025, January 14, 2026. https://wsdot.wa.gov/about/news/2026/state-ferry-ridership-rises-nearly-1-million-2025-full-domestic-service-returns-cancellations-plunge

05 · Washington State Ferries — 2026 Fact Sheet, March 2026. https://wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2026-03/WSF-FactSheet-2026_0.pdf

06 · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — Inland Navigation Fast Facts; system freight tonnage and navigation infrastructure. https://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/Missions/Value-to-the-Nation/Fast-Facts/Inland-Navigation-Fast-Facts/

07 · Federal Highway Administration — Ferry Boat Program FY2025 distribution memorandum, August 12, 2025. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/specialfunding/fbp/20250523_FBP_FY25_Funds_Dist.pdf

08 · U.S. Department of Transportation — Passenger Ferry Grant Program, FY2026 federal capital eligibility and funding. https://www.transportation.gov/rural/grant-toolkit/passenger-ferry-grant-program

09 · Federal Highway Administration — Ferry Boat Program Fact Sheet; Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act FY2022–2026 funding. https://highways.fhwa.dot.gov/iija/fact-sheets/ferry-boat-program-fbp

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