Puerto Rico’s Integrated Transportation Authority (ATI) updated the Puerto Rico Senate’s Committee on Transportation, Telecommunications, Public Utilities and Consumer Affairs on ferry fares, port projects and transit expansion at a public hearing on Tuesday. The commission is chaired by Carolina District Sen. Héctor Joaquín Sánchez Álvarez. ATI Executive Director Josué Menéndez Agosto said the new maritime transportation regulation includes recommendations from the mayors of Vieques and Culebra and members of the Legislature.
Resident fares to Vieques and Culebra stay at $2 and $2.50, while visitors pay $11.50 each way plus the environmental fee. For the proposed short-route ferry to Vieques via Mosquito Pier, ATI expects authorizations from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies in the coming months, then review by the Federal Transit Administration.
The preliminary schedule calls for a request for proposals in January 2027, a contract award in May and construction starting in June 2027 and running through 2028, subject to permits. The project could cut travel time to Vieques by about 30 minutes. Under its Intercity program, ATI plans a route linking Ceiba with the Piñero Tren Urbano station, and is evaluating routes to Utuado (stopping in Manatí) and Ponce (stopping in Cayey).
Puerto Rico also won a $10 million federal award for studies on extending the Tren Urbano toward San Juan and Carolina, with about $1 million in local matching funds (10%). A collaborative agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation is expected in December 2026. HMS Ferries Puerto Rico announced terminal renovations in Old San Juan, Hato Rey and Cataño.