East Bay Ferry Commuters; Ferry Building South Terminal To Open Soon

Ferryriders: Get Ready for Change in Loading Areas, Brace for Onslaught of BART Refugees

The southern portion of the new San Francisco Ferry Terminal looks to be open for business in early September, meaning a change in location for East Bay ferryriders getting on and off their vessels. And that’s not the only surprise ferryriders may encounter in September. With a BART strike looming, ferryriders are bracing for a possible onslaught of refugee rail commuters.

Port of San Francisco officials are giving the project, bedeviled with delays, new urgency because of the increasing likelihood of a BART strike. If a strike does happen, it will probably occur in early September, and will provide an early and important test of the new Ferry Terminal’s ability to accommodate thousands of displaced BART riders. Crews are working around the clock to be ready.

Even without the drama of a BART strike, ferryriders should prepare for big changes in their daily routine. East Bay ferryriders, long accustomed to catching their boats from Pier ½, will have to instead do so from the other side of the Ferry Building, which the Golden Gate Ferry boats have up to now had all to their own.

Precise dates for the shift and arrangements for alerting ferryriders were, as Bay Crossings went to press, sketchy. Port officials promise to provide significant signs and other notices well in advance of the move.

Problems with fabricating and coating the all-important floats are the principal reason for delays which have set back the opening of the new facility almost a year. The wait will be worthwhile, however. Ferryriders, accustomed to drab, even decrepit, loading facilities will, over the coming months, experience dramatic improvements.

The new Ferry Terminal, designed by the internationally regarded architect Boris Dramov of ROMA Design Group to agree aesthetically with the redesigned Ferry Building, will be as beautiful as it will be functional. Handsome, clearly marked granite gates and decorative compass rose paving will now welcome weary commuters and excited tourists. The South and North Promenades feature colored paving, decorative benches, trashcans, ornamental handrails and lighting bollards, and signage with maps and schedules. The floats and access ramps are fully covered with dramatically shaped canopies to shelter ferryriders from sun and rain. On the functional side, the new Ferry Terminal was designed to provide full accessibility to all ferryriders (including "Talking Signs" for the visually impaired), and to remain functional in the event of a major earthquake.

Next will be continuous public access area along the waterside of the Ferry Building between the North and South Terminals. The new East Promenade deck will be topped with the attractive colored paving surrounded by the ornamental railing and finishes as part of the Ferry Building Project scheduled to be complete by Fall of 2002.

When the Ferry Building itself opens in late 2002, ferryriders will be able to enjoy a drink while taking in the view, and stroll casually to their boat instead of having to line up as if at a Stryker concert. It’s been slow in coming, but it looks like all-patient ferryriders are finally about to begin seeing the results of work years in the making.

For more information:

For project overview information, visit the project website at www.sfport.com, or see the information boards at the Pier ½ and Golden Gate ferry terminals. The San Francisco Ferry Terminal Project project information line is

(415) 274-0378.