The city of Boston has been awarded $1.28 million in federal grant money to buy two ferries that will travel between East Boston, South Boston and Charlestown.

The new service is aimed at meeting the growing need for transportation across Boston Harbor and spurring economic opportunity by creating new transit connections between residents and jobs.

Each vessel can carry 40 to 100 passengers and will be ADA-accessible. The proposed ferries will be owned by the Boston Redevelopment Authority and managed through a competitively bid contract with a private ferry operator.