Press Releases

For Immediate Release

Looming Bay Bridge Closure Prompts Ferry Operators
To Expand Labor Day Weekend Service

Additional Boats on Alameda/Oakland, Vallejo Routes

Contact: 
John Goodwin, MTC 510.817.5862

OAKLAND, Calif., August 8, 2006. . . The Alameda-Oakland Ferry and the Vallejo Baylink Ferry will expand their services to help transbay travelers cope with the eastbound closure of the Bay Bridge during the upcoming Labor Day weekend. In anticipation of carrying hundreds more passengers, both ferry services will put one additional vessel into operation, allowing for approximately hourly departures in each direction on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Sept. 2-4. Complete Labor Day weekend schedules for both the Alameda-Oakland Ferry and the Vallejo Baylink Ferry are provided below. Fare and schedule information for all Bay Area transit operators is available on the Web at 511.org.

“There’s no better way to cross the Bay than on a ferry,” said Ernest Sanchez, general manager of the Alameda-Oakland Ferry, which serves Jack London Square in Oakland and the Main Street terminal in Alameda, as well as the San Francisco Ferry Building and Pier 41 near Fishermen’s Wharf. “We’ll have 14 roundtrips a day all weekend, with eastbound departures as early as 7:30 a.m. and as late as 10 p.m., and westbound runs starting at 8 a.m and ending at 10:30 p.m.”

The Vallejo BayLink Ferry also will operate 14 daily round-trips throughout the Labor Day weekend between the Vallejo Ferry Terminal and the San Francisco Ferry Building, with three of the trips including a stop at Pier 41. The travel time between San Francisco and Vallejo on the ferry is one hour each way, noted Martin Robbins, general manager of the Vallejo Baylink Ferry. “The Baylink Bus Route #200 will be affected by the eastbound bridge closure,” added Robbins, “and will have to use Highways 101 and 37 to return to Vallejo. So passengers using Route #200 buses should plan on the trip taking longer than normal.”

Travelers are advised to use public transit to travel between San Francisco and the East Bay, and
between San Francisco and Solano County during the Labor Day weekend. The eastbound direction of the Bay Bridge (the lower deck from San Francisco to the East Bay) will be closed to traffic from 11:59 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1 through 5 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5 to allow Caltrans to perform major demolition work necessary to complete the ongoing Bay Bridge West Approach Seismic Retrofit Project. The closure will be in the eastbound direction only. The upper deck will remain open to westbound traffic coming into San Francisco throughout the weekend.

In addition to the expanded ferry service, BART will provide all-night service to a limited number of stations Friday night into Saturday, Saturday night into Sunday, and Sunday night into Monday. BART will run regularly scheduled service to all its stations during normal operating hours. This includes operating on a Saturday schedule on Sept. 2, and a Sunday/Holiday schedule on Sept. 3 and Sept. 4. Once an hour, AC Transit transbay buses and San Francisco Muni buses serving Treasure Island will be allowed to access one eastbound lane on the Bay Bridge.

For those who must drive, alternatives to the Bay Bridge include U.S. 101 north across the Golden Gate Bridge to Interstate 580 and the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, or U.S. 101 South to the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge.

MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

ALAMEDA-OAKLAND FERRY LABOR DAY WEEKEND SERVICE

Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Sept. 2-4

To San Francisco					To East Bay
Depart	Depart	Arrive	Arrive		Depart	Depart	Arrive	Arrive
Oakland	Alameda	Ferry Bldg	Pier 41/39		Pier 41/39	Ferry Bldg	Alameda	Oakland
8:00 AM	8:10 AM	8:30 AM	***		7:30	***	8:10	8:00
9:00 AM	9:10 AM	***	9:35 AM		***	8:35 AM	9:10 AM	9:00 AM
10:00 AM	9:40 AM	10:30 AM	10:45 AM		9:00 AM	9:15 AM	9:35 AM	9:50 AM
11:00 AM	10:40 AM	11:30 AM	11:45 AM		10:00 AM	10:15 AM	10:35 AM	10:50 AM
12:00 PM	11:40 AM	12:30 PM	12:45 PM		11:00 AM	11:15 AM	11:35 AM	11:50 AM
1:00 PM	12:40 PM	1:30 PM	1:45 PM		12:00 PM	12:15 PM	12:35 PM	12:50 PM
1:30 PM	1:15 PM	2:00 PM	2:15 PM		12:30 PM	12:45 PM	1:10 PM	1:25 PM
2:00 PM	1:40 PM	2:30 PM	2:45 PM		1:00 PM	1:15 PM	1:35 PM	1:50 PM
3:00 PM	2:40 PM	3:30 PM	3:45 PM		2:00 PM	2:15 PM	2:35 PM	2:50 PM
3:30 PM	3:15 PM	4:00 PM	4:15 PM		2:30 PM	2:45 PM	3:10 PM	3:25 PM
4:00 PM	3:40 PM	4:30 PM	4:45 PM		2:50 PM	***	3:35 PM	3:55 PM
5:00 PM	4:40 PM	5:30 PM	5:45 PM		4:00 PM	4:15 PM	4:35 PM	4:50 PM
5:30 PM	5:15 PM	6:00 PM	6:20 PM		4:30 PM	4:45 PM	5:10 PM	5:20 PM
6:00 PM	5:40 PM	6:30 PM	6:45 PM		5:00 PM	5:15 PM	5:35 PM	5:50 PM
7:00 PM	6:40 PM	7:30 PM	7:45 PM		6:00 PM	6:15 PM	6:35 PM	6:50 PM
8:45 PM	8:35 PM	9:15 PM	9:30 PM		8:00 PM	8:15 PM	8:35 PM	8:45 PM
10:30 PM	10:20 PM	11:00 PM	11:15 PM		9:45 PM	10:00 PM	10:20 PM	10:30 PM

 

 

VALLEJO BAYLINK FERRY LABOR DAY WEEKEND SERVICE

Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Sept. 2-4

	Vallejo Ferry Terminal	S.F. Ferry Bldg.	Fisherman's Wharf Pier 41 Terminal		S.F. Ferry Bldg.	Vallejo Ferry Term
	DEPART	ARRIVE	ARRIVE	DEPART	DEPART	ARRIVE
1 BUS	7:00 AM	7:55 AM			8:10AM	8:55 AM
Ferry	8:00 AM	8:55 AM			9:00 AM	9:55 AM
Ferry	8:45 AM	9:45 AM			9:55 AM	10:55 AM
Ferry	10:00 AM	11:00 AM	11:20 AM	11:30 AM	11:10 AM	12:30 PM
Ferry	10:20 AM	11:20 AM			11:30 AM	12:30 PM
Ferry	11:30 AM	12:30 PM			12:40 PM	1:40 PM
Ferry	1:00 PM	2:00 PM			2:10 PM	3:10 PM
Ferry	1:20 PM	2:20 PM			2:30 PM	3:30 PM
1 BUS	2:00 PM	3:00 PM			3:10 PM	4:10 PM
Ferry	3:00 PM	4:20 PM	4:00 PM	4:10 PM	4:30 PM	5:30 PM
Ferry	3:45 PM	4:45 PM			5:00 PM	6:00PM
Ferry	4:05 PM	5:05 PM			5:15 PM	6:15 PM
Ferry	5:35 PM	6:35 PM			6:45 PM	7:45 PM
Ferry	6:10 PM	7:10 PM			7:15 PM	8:15 PM
Ferry	6:35 PM	7:35 PM			7:45 PM	8:45 PM
Ferry	8:20 PM	9:40 PM	9:20 PM	9:30 PM	9:50 PM	10:50 PM
1 BUS	9:30PM	10:30PM			10:30PM	11:30PM
Vessel Capacity is 300 passengers; Baylink operates on a first come first served basis.

 

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