San Francisco Bay Ferry

San Francisco Bay Ferry
Locale San Francisco Bay Area
Waterway San Francisco Bay
Transit type Passenger ferry
Owner San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority
Operator Blue & Gold Fleet
Began operation 1999
No. of lines 4
No. of terminals 9

The San Francisco Bay Ferry (SFBF) is a passenger ferry service on San Francisco Bay, owned by the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) and operated by Blue & Gold Fleet.[1] SFBF is not affiliated with Golden Gate Ferry, which provides passenger ferry service to Marin County.

History

The San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) is a government entity created by the California state legislature in 2007 by Senate Bill 976. The organization was formerly the San Francisco Bay Water Transit Authority (WTA), which the legislature established in 1999.[2]

WETA has assumed ferry service previously operated by the City of Alameda and Port of Oakland.[3] The ferry lines operated under the Alameda/Oakland Ferry and Alameda Harbor Bay Ferry names. Service to the city of South San Francisco began on 4 June 2012, which also coincided with use of the new San Francisco Bay Ferry name. Ferry service from Oakland began informally on the day of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake when the Bay Bridge was closed and routes were put into place two days later.[4]

WETA assumed control of the City of Vallejo's Baylink Ferry service on July 1, 2012.[5] Ferry service from Vallejo to San Francisco dates back to 1986.

WETA plans to establish new service from Berkeley and Richmond to San Francisco. Its long-term vision also includes service from San Francisco to Antioch, Hercules, Martinez, Redwood City, and Treasure Island.[6]

Routes

WETA currently operates regular passenger ferry service from Oakland and Alameda to the San Francisco Ferry Building, Pier 41, Angel Island, and Oyster Point in the city of South San Francisco. It also operates limited service from Vallejo, Oakland and Alameda to AT&T Park for San Francisco Giants baseball home games.

Free parking is available at the Oakland, Alameda, and South San Francisco ferry terminals. Paid parking is limited, but available, at San Francisco's ferry terminals.[7]

Alameda Harbor Bay Ferry

Service operates between the Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal (on Bay Farm Island) and the Ferry Building. This service began in 1992 and was previously operated as the Alameda Harbor Bay Ferry. The ferry line provides weekday rush-hour service only.

Monday to Friday Schedule:


Departs from Harbor Bay at 6:30am, 7:30am, 8:30am, 5:05pm, 6:05pm, 7:05pm
Departs from San Francisco Ferry building, Gate E (on South side of the Ferry Building, next to Sinbad) at 7:00am, 8:00am, 4:35pm, 5:35pm, 6:35pm, 7:35pm.
It takes 30 minutes to cross the bay.
With clipper card, fare is $5 each way. Without clipper card, individual one way tickets can be purchased on the boat at $6.25 for adult, and $3.25 for youth and seniors.

[8]

Alameda/Oakland Ferry

Daily service operates between Oakland, Alameda, and San Francisco. Limited, seasonal weekend service to Angel Island also is provided. This service began in 1989 and was previously operated as the Alameda/Oakland Ferry. Service is provided to these six terminals:

South San Francisco

Service operates from Oyster Point in the city of South San Francisco. Service began to Alameda and Oakland on 4 June 2012 and was expanded to include San Francisco in April 2013. The ferry line provides weekday rush-hour service to Oakland and Alameda, as well as leisure service to San Francisco on a limited basis.[9][10] The South San Francisco location has approximately 40 parking spots.

Service is provided to these terminals:

Vallejo

Service operates between the San Francisco Ferry Building and the Vallejo Ferry Terminal under the SFBF and Baylink Ferry names. The Baylink Ferry brand originated in 1997 by the City of Vallejo, who operated the ferry service from circa 1988 through June 30, 2012.[5][11]

SolTrans provides a supplementary bus route, Route 200, between San Francisco and Vallejo.[12]

Richmond

Weekday commuter service from Richmond to San Francisco was approved for funding and planning in 2012 to become operational by 2015 at a remodeled Richmond Ferry Terminal, in Richmond's Marina Bay District.[13]

Ridership

Ridership has increased from 93,363 in March 2012 to 116,416 in March 2013 and 141,337 in March 2014.

March 2013 Ridership Alameda/Oakland 53,439 Harbor Bay 20,290 SSF 6,955 Vallejo 60,653

References

  1. ↑ "WATER EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY AWARDS FERRY OPERATING CONTRACT TO BLUE & GOLD FLEET" (PDF). Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  2. ↑ About Us, WTA website, retrieved August 5, 2007
  3. ↑ "Q&A: Emergency Needs Prompt Ferry Changes," San Francisco Bay Crossings October 2007.
  4. ↑ https://watertransit.org/files/pubs/IOP%20or%20Programmatic%20EIR/IOP%20correct%20version/iop_response.pdf
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 http://sanfranciscobayferry.com/san-francisco-bay-ferry-assumes-operation-vallejo-baylink-ferry-service
  6. ↑ Proposed Routes
  7. ↑ http://sanfranciscobayferry.com/terminals
  8. ↑ http://sanfranciscobayferry.com/route/hbi/sffb
  9. ↑ http://sanfranciscobayferry.com/new-south-san-francisco-service-launches-june-4-2012
  10. ↑ http://sanfranciscobayferry.com/sfbf-expand-south-san-francisco-service
  11. ↑ http://www.baylinkferry.com/about/history.php
  12. ↑ http://baylinkferry.com/schedule/baylink-bus.php
  13. ↑ Officials showcase proposed Richmond commuter ferry, Spencer Whitley, Richmond Confidential, 22-06-2012, access date 03-07-2012

External links