Committee members questioned transport officials about the long‑term ferry contract serving Vieques and Culebra and related capital projects. A member cited a 2020 contract worth about $809,444,502 over 24 years and described the annualized operational cost as roughly $33 million. ATI representatives confirmed the operational figure and said capital investments include an approximately 32,000‑square‑foot terminal at Ceiba and four new vessels backed largely by federal funds.

Speaker 10 said the terminal project and four vessels are part of a broader program of infrastructure upgrades and that additional federal grants were used for some terminals and vessel construction. Officials acknowledged inequities and community impacts from relocating operations to Ceiba from Fajardo and said Puertos is exploring an inter‑agency transfer of the Fajardo pier to the municipality to mitigate local impacts.

On transit connections, ATI described plans for an Interciri route linking San Juan with Ceiba to enable passengers to use integrated public transport to reach island municipalities, and noted a pilot analysis for a possible broader ferry‑to‑Virgin Islands connection. The agency also reported that the passenger system moved 1.4 million users in October of the year referenced and that infrastructure projects are timed to meet demand growth.

Committee members pressed for ticketing and ridership data broken down by tourist vs. resident travelers; ATI said Culebra has resident registration data to allow that split but Vieques does not. Officials agreed to provide additional ridership breakdowns where possible.

Next steps: the committee asked for the ridership demographics, contract terms and documentation of federal/local funding splits for the Ceiba terminal and vessel purchases.