Transactions Newsletter

March 1999
Ferry Futures:
Steady as She Goes or Full Speed Ahead?

Winds of change are picking up on San Francisco Bay as two separate plans for increasing ferry services gain momentum. A recent report by MTC recommends adding five new high-speed ferries and making major improvements to docking terminals over the next five years, with the possible addition of several new routes. Estimated cost: $85 million.At the same time, a privately sponsored Blue Ribbon Task Force for Bay Area Water Transit, spearheaded by the Bay Area Council, is calling for a massive expansion of the region's ferry fleet, with 70 new fast boats serving 26 different terminals around the Bay in the next five to 10 years. Estimated price tag: $680 million to $1 billion.The Blue Ribbon Task Force will complete its year-long planning effort by holding a final public meeting in early April 1999. Following that, the proposed plan and a financing package will be submitted to the state Legislature, where state Sen. Don Perata of Alameda has agreed to introduce a bill to create a regional ferry authority that would begin work on implementing the recommendations. The task force is considering a number of options, with a $1 increase in Bay Bridge tolls dedicated to ferry operating costs as the most likely source of revenue to kick-start its plan.

The concept of creating "the best water transit system in the world," as the task force calls it, raises many issues, such as how it would be financed, what the potential environmental impacts on the Bay would be, and how such a system would compete for funds and riders with existing public transit systems. MTC is seeking answers to these and other questions by developing a Blueprint for the 21st Century, a comprehensive evaluation of possible transportation futures for the Bay Area. In a year-long public process, MTC is examining a number of ambitious and currently unfunded transportation proposals in order to produce an overall "big picture" that incorporates the region's consensus on priorities and financing options.

More Ferries, More Riders

Existing ferry services on the Bay, in fact, are making impressive gains. In the past six years, an infusion of $50 million in transportation funds has increased the number of passenger ferries from seven to 12, including three high-speed catamarans, and nearly doubled the number of daily weekday round trips from 47 to 80. As a result, annual ridership grew 50 percent between 1992 and 1998, from 2.6 million to 3.8 million.

These numbers should go even higher when a new privately-operated ferry service begins commuter service in June. The Red & White Fleet plans to provide two morning and two evening commute trips weekdays and one weekend round trip between the city of Richmond and Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. A one-way ride on the 500-passenger Royal Prince will take 35 minutes.

With capacity loads of San Francisco-bound commuters boarding the 400-passenger, high-speed catamarans in Larkspur and Vallejo, MTC in its 1998 Regional Ferry Plan Update recommends the purchase of five additional high-speed vessels over the next few years.

The ferry plan update also stresses the urgency of making landside improvements, particularly to the San Francisco, Sausalito and Larkspur terminal facilities. According to MTC Senior Planner Rod McMillan, "The most critical need for continued successful operation of ferry services is the construction of four new berthing slots at the San Francisco Ferry Building. Delay in completing this project will hinder increased ferry services."

McMillan pointed out that most of the recent investment in new ferries and terminals has come from special, one-time funding sources, such as California Proposition 116 and a discretionary program for ferry boats in the federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, as opposed to conventional transit financing sources. "We will need to find additional capital funds to purchase the new ferries and make terminal improvements in order to maintain reliable existing services," he said.

While MTC found that potential new ferry routes from Berkeley/Albany (at Gilman Street), Martinez/Benicia and possibly Port Sonoma to San Francisco could be successful -- if requirements such as parking, feeder bus services and dredging can be met -- McMillan emphasized, "At this time, we believe maintaining and improving existing ferry services should be our highest priority."

Task Force Seeks "Critical Mass"

On the other hand, the report by the business-led Water Transit Task Force asserts that attracting a "critical mass" of 40,000 to 60,000 riders per day -- four to five times the current volume -- in the next five to 10 years is crucial to making the Bay ferry system successful.

According to Russell Hancock, vice president of the Bay Area Council, "We believe an incremental approach to expanding ferry services will not work because it doesn't incorporate the success factors needed to attract sufficient ridership. The incremental approach presumes that ridership should drive the ferry system design, while the 'critical mass' concept recognizes that the system design will drive ridership to a significant degree.

"Anything less than investing in a comprehensive new water transit system will fall short of the ridership goals," Hancock said.

In the task force plan, an all-out push to lure 15 million to 20 million ferry passengers a year by 2010 will require more than two dozen terminals around the Bay, from Sonoma in the north to Moffett Field in the south, linked by a fleet of 70 high-speed ferries and five cargo vessels serving 26 ports. In addition to major commuter destinations, ferries would travel to recreation areas, such as state and federal parks, as well as to airline terminals at San Francisco and Oakland international airports, with direct connections from amphibious ferries to flights. High-speed ferries would operate with 15- to 30-minute headways at least 16 hours a day, and fares, according to the task force, would be comparable to BART fares.

This initial phase of the proposed high-speed ferry system would cover a total of 440 route miles, creating the largest ferry route system in the world, surpassing Sydney and Vancouver. In the build-out phase over 10 to 20 years, the task force envisions 25 million to 30 million passengers a year ferrying the Bay.

Commented Steve Heminger, MTC deputy executive director, "The concept of a greatly expanded ferry system is very appealing, but there are advocates for greatly expanded rail transit and bus systems, too. We need to understand the cost implications and how this ferry concept would fit into the overall regional transportation scheme. We look forward to continuing to work with the task force as we map out the transportation Blueprint for the 21st Century."

-- Marjorie Blackwell

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