Governor Gray Davis Marks the End of a Two-Year
Process to Add More Ferries to SF Bay. . .
With His Signature
![](004_AllAboard.jpg) |
All
aboard for an expanded Bay Area ferry system |
On October 10, 2003, Governor
Davis signed Senate Bill (SB) 915 (D-Perata, Oakland) giving the WTA
the green light to develop seven new Bay Area ferry routes, expand
existing ferry routes, and build 31 new boats. SB 915 authorizes the
WTA to operate a comprehensive San Francisco Bay area regional
public water transit system.
"We are on the brink of a new
and exciting future for ferries on San Francisco Bay. The State’s
approval is a significant step towards delivering more boats, new
routes and good landside connections," said Charlene Haught
Johnson, President, WTA Board of Directors. "We thank the
Governor and Legislature, especially the leadership of Senators
Perata and Burton. This new law brings to fruition the work of
hundreds of people who’ve advocated for enhancing our region’s
public transit system with water transit," added Ms. Johnson.
"The approval of the Authority’s plan culminates two years of
technical work and an exhaustive public participation process. We
thank everyone who helped, including the WTA’s Community Advisory
and Technical Advisory Committees, public agencies, elected
officials, members of environmental organizations, existing ferry
operators, and other transit agencies."
![](Perata_outside.jpg) |
Sen.
Don Perata (D-Oakland) authored SB 915 and SB 916 to give
Bay Area residents and visitors more commute options |
The WTA’s ten-year plan
recommends new ferry routes to South San Francisco, Berkeley,
Richmond, Treasure Island, Antioch-Martinez, Hercules, and Redwood
City, and expansion of existing routes. The WTA will also study a
route between the East Bay and the Peninsula, Port Sonoma and
several future locations including Hunter’s Point and Moffett
Field.
SB 915 sets new standards for the
nation’s ferry industry. The WTA will use boats with advanced
emissions controls that will result in air emissions 85 percent
cleaner than EPA’s 2007 standards for diesel engines. At least one
boat will run on biodiesel, a renewable fuel. The WTA already has
received a federal grant to design a zero-emission fuel-cell ferry.
A key component of the WTA’s
future work will be to plan and coordinate ferries in emergency
situations. "Ferries have a history in the Bay Area and
throughout the world of assisting with emergency transportation
following natural or man made disasters," said Tom Bertken, the
WTA’s Chief Executive Officer. The WTA will update the Region’s
Ferry Contingency Plan, which includes assessing the availability of
vessels and terminals for civilian evacuation and transport of
safety personnel.
|
"The
Water Transit Authority is really trying to jumpstart new
technologies that will produce the cleanest fleet in the
world. There’s still a lot of work to be done to implement
this vision, but Bluewater Network looks forward to working
on this. This planning process has shown the great benefits
of collaboration between government, industry and the
environmental community." Russell Long, Executive
Director, Bluewater Network |
|
![](CharleneANDIntintoli.jpg) |
Happy
WTA Board members, President Charlene Haught Johnson and
Vallejo Mayor Anthony Intintoli |
The WTA was created in 1999 by the
California Legislature to produce a ten-year plan for the expansion
of a ferry system and landside connections. The Plan is based on
technical studies, which analyzed ridership forecasts, environmental
impacts, cost-effectiveness and funding projections. The WTA’s
Plan and studies are available at www.watertransit.org.
![](MarinaANDTony.jpg) |
San
Francisco Bay Area WTA members Marina Secchitano (l) and
Tony Withington (r) were early founders of ferry expansion;
here, they share a celebratory moment |
Governor Davis signed a companion
bill, SB 916, also on October 10. It specifies a $3 billion transit
spending plan to relieve congestion on Bay Area bridges and
highways
by funding rail, bus, ferry and other regional transit projects out
of a proposed $1 increase on all state-owned bridge tolls. Voters in
seven Bay Area counties will have a chance to decide on this bill
when it appears on the March 2004 ballot as Regional Measure (RM) 2.
If it is approved, two new ferry routes, Berkeley and South San
Francisco, and two new boats for Oakland/Alameda service will be
partially funded. The WTA will work with local cities in pursuing
federal and local funding for the services that did not get funded
in SB 916. Improvements to the San Francisco Port’s Downtown Ferry
Terminal, the regional hub for ferry service, is expected to receive
some funding from RM 2 and some supplemental funding from San
Francisco’s county sales tax renewal slated for the November 2003
ballot.
A Growing Regional Consensus
for More Ferries
Here’s what people around the
Bay Area are saying:
"The State of California made
a huge investment in studying how ferries can give Bay Area
commuters and recreational visitors more transit options. The
opportunity to build a water transit system for the region’s
future is exiting. I’m pleased by all the hard work, top expertise
and public participation that has gone into the WTA’s plan."
Sen. Don Perata (D-Oakland)
"As a historian of
California, I consider the planning for ferry service on San
Francisco Bay currently underway at the San Francisco Bay Area Water
Transit Authority to be the most significant transit planning of the
decade. Thanks to the visionary and practical work of the Authority,
water transit – as in times past – will once again integrate the
Bay Area into a civil and sustaining environment." Dr. Kevin
Star, State Librarian of California
"
If we’re really going to be prepared for a disaster, we need to
have a ferry system. One, because of its capacity to go where other
systems can’t go, that would be broken and damaged, and two,
because we need redundancy. Also, one of the best parts of this
whole system is that [the WTA has] built in the connectivity. They
haven’t said, we’re just going to only look at what we’re
going to put on the water, they’re looking at how to make sure
that the people reach their final destination."
Supervisor Cynthia Murray, Marin
County
"Too many workers need to
come from too far away from their homes to work [in the South Bay].
And the more options we can give them on how they commute here in a
safe, economical, stress-free and lower polluting form of travel,
the better we’re all going to be."
Carl Guardino, President and CEO,
Silicon Valley Manufacturers Group