St. George's is set to have a new ferry after Government announced plans to add a fifth fast vessel to its fleet.

The ferry, capable of carrying up to 300 passengers, is being funded out of savings made by the Ministry of Tourism and Transport.

The ministry is still researching designs and Transport Minister Ewart Brown said there was usually a ten-month gap between ordering and delivery of a boat. It will have modified seating and storage.

Dr. Brown said: "There have been a few things we have learned from these four we would like to incorporate.

"It will be for the St. George's commuter run but we will have enough capability to move things around including give some of the other boats a rest."

Transport Ministry consultant Larry Jacobs said the boat would be built longer and have a deeper keel to enable it to withstand winter storms but it will still be a catamaran design.

At 300 seats it will be substantially larger than the first four fast ferry catamarans with the first two seating 210 and the second pair seating about 170.

Mr. Jacobs added: "We don't have a price yet. We are still researching different ship building companies."

Asked if he would use one of the two firms which provided the first four ferries, Mr. Jacobs said: "We have not made a decision yet."

During her budget statement Finance Minister Paula Cox said the ferry will integrate the eastern parishes into the network of seaborne movement of commuters and visitors and help to ease road congestion in our eastern parishes.

She said: "You may recall that in the aftermath of Hurricane Fabian the ferries were a significant boon to the eastern parishes.

"Their deployment proved very helpful to parents and commuters in the eastern parishes and helped to minimise disruption to commercial life and to the operation of our schools."

Ms Cox also told Parliament there is money in the budget to help taxi drivers pay for installation of GPS.

The original deadline to sign up for concessions had been January 31 but Dr. Brown said this had been extended to April 1.

Bus and ferry fares stayed the same in the budget but Dr. Brown said discount programmes could later be pursued as a marketing manoeuvre to get people on to public transport by making it affordable.