By: Najla Alexander
Carteret officials announced that the Borough has won a $5.38 million grant from the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority that will will provide funding toward the $48 million Carteret Multimodal Ferry Terminal Building, which broke ground on Dec. 12.
The Honorable Mayor Daniel J. Reiman announced that NJTPA is the federally authorized transportation Metropolitan Planning Organization for 13 counties, including Middlesex, Carteret officials said.
Mayor Reiman said, “I want to acknowledge and express our deep gratitude for their unwavering support to the New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner Fran O’Connor, as well as Laine Rankin, Deval Desai, Komila Pandit, and Pavan Sheth, and the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority and Executive Director David Behrend, as well as Sascha Frimpong, who serves as our point of contact. Their funding, guidance, and partnership have been vital in moving this project forward. These agencies recognized the value and impact of this terminal for the people of Carteret and for the transportation network of our entire region.”
In late October, a construction contract of $47,502,761 was awarded to Brockwell and Carrington Contractors of Towaco, NJ, to construct the four-story, 52,000-square-foot multimodal ferry terminal, Carteret officials stated. The facility is designed to be a destination in itself with retail, restaurants, and recreational space.
Planned since the inception of the Reiman Administration, the terminal is expected to be an 18- to 24-month construction project. Completion is expected by December 2027, according to Carteret officials. Each floor will be approximately 13,000 square feet, according to architect Tom Potter of Potter Architects in Union.
To pay for the overall ferry project, the Reiman Administration has secured more than $86 million in federal and state grants, Carteret officials said. 
At the official groundbreaking on Dec. 12, Gov. Phil Murphy said, “I am proud to deliver the expansion of ferry service to New York City from Carteret. From the beginning of my Administration, we have invested in expanding environmentally friendly transportation infrastructure that provides commuters with more options and reduces traffic on our roads. I am grateful to Mayor Reiman and our partners in Carteret for bringing to life this new transportation hub that will drive economic growth in the area.”
According to Carteret officials, completed work on the ferry project to date includes the installation of 130 feet of steel sheet pile bulkhead along the Arthur Kill waterfront, 19,500 cubic feet of dredging of the waterside of the bulkhead to achieve sufficient depths for the ferry slips and docking area, and the in-water terminal docks and gangplanks. Construction of a 700-space parking lot and on-site work is underway.
“There will be two to three stops in Manhattan, leaving about three or four times a day and arriving back in Carteret three or four times a day,” Mayor Reiman said.
“Three or four times in the morning and three or four times in the evening. That’s the initial projection. We’ll increase that as ridership demands.”
The intermodal aspect of the Ferry Terminal will allow NJ TRANSIT buses, municipal jitneys, and NJ Rideshare to drop passengers off. The jitney will pick up passengers throughout the Borough, as well as at Rahway and Woodbridge train stations, Carteret officials said. 
Carteret officials stated that the terminal is expected to open by early 2028 or sooner, but ferry service may be available earlier via a smartphone app or a kiosk at the ferry slips, Mayor Reiman said.
Benefits of the ferry include:
· Providing reliable, significantly quicker, and more environmentally-friendly transportation service to New York City
· Reducing congestion on the New Jersey Turnpike and roads leading from the Turnpike into the Holland and Lincoln tunnels
· Reducing reliance on the automobile in a densely populated area well-suited to the development of robust public transit service
· Providing redundant transportation service in instances of an emergency or a catastrophic event
· Providing an affordable, accessible, and dynamic transportation system responsive to current and future customers
· Protection and improvement of the quality of the natural ecosystem and the human environment
· Retaining and increasing economic activity and competitiveness
· Transforming an area of environmental degradation into a catalyst for economic development
· Accommodating continued population growth in Carteret and the region.
Mayor Reiman said, “New residential and commercial opportunities, combined with our future ferry service, newly constructed Performing Arts and Events Center, upgraded parks, and stable tax rates, solidify Carteret as a great place to live, work, and raise a family.”
The Carteret Multimodal Ferry Terminal Building is part of Mayor Reiman’s vision to turn Carteret’s once-inaccessible, completely industrial waterfront into a popular regional destination for arts and public recreation, according to Carteret officials. The waterfront now includes a fishing pier, a public park, a mini golf course, a 185-slip marina, and a soon-to-open Riverwalk, Pier Pavilion, and mobile kitchen.
The seven-acre site of the ferry terminal is on a former Dupont property, the balance of which the Borough will obtain to develop a movie studio, hotel, and much more, Carteret officials say.