The Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnerships Authority (the Authority), in connection with the Maritime Transportation Authority for Puerto Rico and the Municipal Islands (MTA) and the Puerto Rico Integrated Transit Authority (PRITA), has started the process to develop a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for the Puerto Rico Maritime Transportation Services Project.

The project will involve the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the public maritime transportation services currently provided by MTA and PRITA within the San Juan Bay (Metro Service) and the municipal islands of Puerto Rico, Vieques and Culebra, and the operation of the maintenance base located in Isla Grande, San Juan.

The project goals established by the MTA and PRITA are to:

• Improve the quality of customer service
• Increase ridership of the Metro and Island Service
• Identify and introduce efficiencies in MTA’s operations by leveraging the private sector’s ferry operations expertise
• Increase revenues through improved ancillary services (i.e. food and beverages), not related to ticket fares, in order to reduce net public subsidies.

This O&M Contract would likely be of a medium term, 5 to 10 years, with a private entity selected through a competitive procurement process that will be compliant with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) guidelines.

It is anticipated that risks related to the operation and maintenance of the ferry service will be transferred to an operator, with compensation to the operator sourced from existing public appropriations, applicable federal funding and project revenues.

A Request for Qualifications and Proposals (RFQP) was released last week. The intention of the Authority is to select a preferred proponent by Mid July.

You can see all the information about the process and deadline details on the following link: 

http://www.app.gobierno.pr/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/RFQPMTAProject.pdf