"Once the environmental and operational hurdles were cleared, Marty Robbins and Ken Fox, another consultant working for Art Anderson, proceeded to develop the specifications for the two 35-knot ferryboats. After an exhaustive bidding process in which five potential builders participated, the Vallejo City Council awarded the contract to Dakota Creek Shipyard of Anacortes, Washington, in October 1995.

The two new high-speed catamarans were designed, built, and delivered by Dakota Creek Shipyard of Anacortes, Washington. Each Boat boat is capable of carrying 301 passengers at a speed of 35-knotts34-knots, and is and was powered by two 2,720 horsepower diesel engines operating waterjets. The first vessel arrived was delivered in March, 1997, and t, and the second vessel,he second vessel arrived in Vallejo during in May, 1997.

"In late 1996, Vallejo’s City Council, in recognition of Mayor Anthony Intintoli’s unwavering support and hard work over the years to improve the ferry system, decided to name the first catamaran the M/V Intintoli." The second catamaran was named the M/V Mare Island. The two high-speed catamarans were placed into service over the Memorial Day weekend in May 1997.we have nothing

The two high-speed catamarans were put in service in May 1997, inaugurating The City of Vallejo’s BayLink Ferry Service with Blue & Gold Fleet as operator.

"We Based on our experience following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, we knew had a lot of hopethat people would come in droves and ride these boats. Our plan called for ridership to increase quickly, since city was heavily dependent on income from the fare box to meet operating expenses. So, during that first summer of operation, we held our breath and watched ridership figures very carefully. We chose the name ‘Vallejo Baylink’ "Vallejo Baylink" as a way of identifying the City, but also to convey the function purpose of the system connecting Vallejo with the Bay Area."

Another Fortuitous Event

"In September 1997, several months after Vallejo Baylink went into operation, BART went on strike. It was too bad for BART, but not too bad for Baylink!

"The resulting freeway congestion forced many automobile commuters to try public transit for the first time … including our new Baylink ferry service. When the strike was over many transit commuters went back to BART, but we found that there was a net gain for Baylink.for Baylink. With that ‘shot-in-the-arm,’ our ridership figures reached projected targets by October/November 1997, and i. It appeared , for the first time, that the new ferry service was becoming a financial successmeeting our financial objectives more than a year ahead of schedule.

"During the first full fiscal year of operation between July 1997 and June 1998, Baylink carried 545,000 passengers. In Fiscal Year (FY) 1998-1999, Baylink carried 635,000 passengers. Last year in FY 1999-2000, the ferries plus the supplemental buses (see below) carried nearly 750,000 riders. We are projecting about 800,000 passengers in the Fiscal Year ending this month, including about 40,000 bus passengers. This figure represents about 2,400-2,800 weekday passengers, including buses. Initially, some 60% of our riders were from Vallejo, and 40% came, largely by automobile, from Napa, Fairfield, and Benicia. That picture has changed dramatically as more and more people have discovered how peasant it is to ride the ferry. Now, we are getting passengers from as far away as Davis and Sacramento."

Also a Growing Bus Service

To provide an integrated transit system, the City of Vallejo also operates local bus services, as well as feeder bus service to the ferries froman intercity bus connection Vacavillefrom Vacaville and Fairfield that serves the Ferry Terminal, plus an express bus connection to the BART at the El Cerrito Del Norte Station BART station.in El Cerrito. That service, called BARTlinkBartlink, was increased following the Loma Prieta Earthquake, and continues today and includes extending extended service to for commuters from as far away as Vacaville and Fairfield and Vacaville. .

By 1990In 1997, HOV lanes were completed on along I-80 all the way from the Carquinez tobetween Highway 4 and the Bay Bridge Toll Plaza, including a direct connection to the El Cerrito Del Norte BART station. The I-80 HOV lane permits thus permitting fast, efficient bus service from Vallejo to BART as well as to San Francisco. So, during the 1997 BART strike, we temporarily shifted our bus service from taking riders to BART to taking them all the way to San Francisco. After the strike, we returned to our Del Norte BART operations, providing bus service to every train during commute hours.

As the population of Solano County’s population continues to grow and commuters find themselves moveliving farther and farther away from work, there is mounting demand for our transit services, both ferries and buses.ferry and bus service, particularly into the central Bay Area. More and more people have discovered how pleasant a ferry ride on the ferry can beis, .and our ferry service has become more and more popular.

Ms. Belchamber continued, Our two "Baylink ferries operate very close to capacity during the morning commute. Available capacity is regularly exceeded in the afternoon, particularly during the summer when regular commuters share the ferries with recreational riders. catamarans are not only operating at capacity during commute runs, but have an excess number of passengers. Fortunately, we are now able to accommodate them by using our buses to take them toreturn the ferry ‘spillover" passengers from San Francisco to Vallejo, on the same time-schedule as the ferries, thanks to the HOV lanes on I-80. A number of Baylink passengers regularly ride ferries to San Francisco in the morning, but take the bus back in the afternoon since the buses run on the hour, the ferries on the half hour." Thus, we now offer both bus or ferry service for our commute runs from Vallejo. The two services have become interchangeable.

Ferries, Now an Overwhelming Success

"Our two boats are always on the move with eleven round trips trip sailings per weekday a day tobetween Vallejo and San Francisco. We have no idle mid-day docking time, other than for crew changes. We not only have huge demand during the commute hours, but we also have a strong demand during mid-day and on weekends, particularly in the summer.

"On one end, there is the draw of San Francisco … not only for going to work, but …going to the baseball games … going shopping … going to lunch or dinner … going to the theatre … and so forth. We go directly to San Francisco. It’s a wonderful ride and everybody loves it. On the Vallejo end, we are also becoming more of a tourist destination, with Six Flags Marine World, the Mare Island Historic Park, golf courses, the ‘California Wine BoatShip,’ and before long, access to the Napa Valley wine country.

"With the high day-long and week-longheavy patronage usage of our boatsBaylink, we are bringing in 70%nearly 80% of our operating costs for the ferry at the fare box.from fares. We believe thatThis figure is higher than any other publicly funded ferry system that we are aware of. Basically, wWith $1.5 4 million per year from bridge tolls, our operating budget this yearin Fiscal Year 2000-2001 (July 2000 to June 2001) is around $7 6.2 million, meaning that $5.54.9 million has to comes from fares. However, the future addition of one or two more ferries could change this picture.

Maintenance and a Back-Up BoatThe Jet Cat Express

"With our two boatsthe Intintoli and Mare Island in full regular operation, day in and day out, we have indeed been very lucky not to have had anyonly a few major breakdowns. Currently, our boats are fueled and serviced over-night and on weekends by a splendid crew, headed by Captain Patrick Morgan, a Coast Guard licensed shipmaster.Master. His crew does miracles at the temporary, rather primitive facilities they we acquired from the Navy at Mare Island.

"But that This situation will improve dramatically in another year,the near future when we will acquire new equipment and move into larger facilities, directly across Mare Island Strait from the the river. These facilities will definitely be needed as over the next decade as we move to our full projected fleet of four a third high-speed catamarans and a back-up boat. , plus a fourth projected vessel in regular weekday service by 2007 or 2008."

But what happened to the original M/V Jet Cat Express that was supposed to serve as a back-upback up to the two new catamarans?

Ms. Belchamber responded, " Since the Jet Cat was too slow to effectively back-up the two new boats without disrupting schedules (requiring temporary schedule changes whenever the Intintoli or Mare Island were "in the shop), it Vallejo was decided to repower the boat boat to increase operating speed to at least 32 knots, and to revise its seating capacity to match the 301 passengers carried by the Intintoli and Mare Island. and increase its seating capacity so that it could effectively serve as a back-up.

"So, cSourrently, the Jet Cat is at Nichols Brothers Boat Builders shipyard in Freeland, Washington. New where new diesel engines and waterjets are being installed to increase the speed to 33 32 knots. A new pilothouse is being added to the third deck, and seating capacity increased tochanged to 300 301 passengers, consistent with the other two boas. By late summerSeptember, the Jet Cat, renamed the Vallejo, should be back in the Bay Area, ready to play an effective role in backing up the Intintoli and the Mare Island.

"to provideThis addition will greatly improve the reliability of full two-vessel service by providing an adequate back up, allowing and giving the two boats an opportunity for effective maintenance and an occasional rest for the Intintoli and the Mare Island, setting the stage for the further growth of Vallejo’s Baylink ferry service.

And Tomorrow!

"That brings us to ‘Vallejo Today’ with an efficient first-class ferry system that we are very proud of. But the future doesn’t stand still, and we are already planning for tomorrow with additional ferries and new transit facilities that will bring together Vallejo’s waterfront and downtown areas."

*The book, San Francisco Bay Ferry Boats by George H. Harlan, published by Howell-North Books in Berkeley provides much more detail on the history of early ferry service.