Water Transit Scores

Ferries Get a Home Run in Transportation Spending Bill

The passage of Regional Measure 2 in the Bay Area’s March 2 election secures money for more ferries along with more than 30 other transportation projects around the region. For ferries, it will make possible new routes between San Francisco and the cities of Berkeley and South San Francisco. Also, RM 2 will buy more boats for the already existing Alameda/Oakland line, subsidize operations for the Vallejo route, and add more berths at San Francisco’s Downtown Ferry Terminal to accommodate the expected growth in ferry traffic. Planning monies will become available for Richmond and Port Sonoma. The measure carried long-awaited operating funds for Vallejo/Baylink’s third boat scheduled to arrive this year.

“It’s a great victory for Bay Area commuters who drive, use transit or want to use transit,” said State Senate Majority Leader Don Perata (D-Oakland), author of Measure 2. “Voters took matters into their own hands. They want better transit.”

A majority of Bay Area voters agreed that paying a dollar extra toll on all Bay Area bridges, with the exception of the Golden Gate Bridge, was a good idea – so long as that money is dedicated to regional traffic relief. Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara all approved the measure by a majority vote.

“We are delighted that ferries are part of the biggest transportation investment that this region has made in over a decade! We look forward to serving Bay Area communities by delivering new ferry boats and new terminals,” said Charlene Haught Johnson, president, San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority (WTA).

“Regional Measure 2 provides the money to jumpstart this long-awaited ferry expansion,” added Steve Castleberry, the WTA’s chief executive officer. “The Bay Area currently has the third largest commuter ferry system in the country. By investing in our ferry system, we can get more people out of their cars and onto ferries.” The WTA’s studies showed that the number of ferry riders will triple by 2025 for a total of 12 million passenger trips per year with expanded service.

 

Ferry Crews Celebrate Victory for Ferries
Transit agencies around the region educated voters on what RM 2 would mean for their commute by handing out fliers near terminals and transit stops. Ferryboat workers, organized through the Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific (IBU), reached out to ferry riders. According to deckhands Kiante London and Steve Ongerth, passage of RM 2 “means more jobs and better mass transit. The existing ferry service will increase.” They, along with other members of the crew, donated money and time to promoting RM 2 among friends and ferry passengers.

Regarding the varying degrees of support among the counties, Mr. Ongerth said that the Marin County showing of support at a comparably high 63.8% surprised him and that Solano’s low vote tally was disappointing,

especially given that it will fund more Vallejo ferry service. Mr. London stressed the need for both buses and boats since landside connections are critical for transferring people to their final destination.

Security and public safety are top priorities for deckhands, explained IBU member William Golson. The crew’s readiness to respond to fires, instances of man-overboard, and other onboard emergencies may partially explain why people riding Bay Area ferries are riding the region’s safest form of public transit. According to Luis Arevalo’s experience on a crew, deckhands even help recreational users, with whom they share the Bay. For instance, Mr. Arevalo once fished a struggling windsurfer out of the water.

Next Inning for Ferries: Scoring Federal and Local Dollars

Although money from Regional Measure 2 (RM 2) gives a good boost to boats, it falls short of funding the entire San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority’s (WTA) plan for new ferries. It funds two out of the WTA’s recommended seven new routes. The WTA is looking to federal grants to fill funding gaps.

The Bay Area has the third largest commute system and the WTA is seeking to bring more ferry dollars to this region. Washington, Alaska, and New Jersey benefit from large set-asides from the Federal Ferryboat grant program.

 

Federal Leaders Join in Ferry Excitement
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), joined by Senators Diane Feinstein (D-San Francisco) and Barbara Boxer (D-San Francisco), successfully amended the Senate surface transportation reauthorization (SAFE TEA) by more than tripling the Federal Ferryboat Discretionary (FBD) Program from $38 million to $120 million per year.

Senator Murray said, “My amendment recognizes the importance of ferries to our nation’s transportation infrastructure and provides the resources and support they need to grow. If we don’t expand our investment in ferries as demand soars, we will feel the same impacts we feel when a road is overcrowded. We will lose jobs, productivity and handicap our economic growth. By increasing our ferry investment, we can reap big rewards for commuters, manufacturers, and our economy.”

On the House side, Representative Don Young (R-AK), Chairman of Transportation and Infrastructure, has been a tremendous advocate for ferries. Specifically, he championed the necessary House amendment of the

TEA bill, including $100 million/year for the FBD, increasing by $5 million/year, to $125 million in the sixth year of his TEA bill. If approved, this would be an impressive three-fold increase in federal support for public ferry systems. Chairman Young is moving forward to markup the TEA bill this month, with the objective of getting to conference with the Senate (with its $120 million/year FBD) before the current two-month extension of TEA expires by May.

This last year, Representative Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo) obtained $1 million in federal dollars for the South San Francisco ferry. This grant was the only grant of ferry funds that came to California that year. In FY ’05, he will submit a request for another appropriation of Federal Ferry Boat Discretionary funds for $2.5 million to cover costs of a third ferry vessel.

 

Launching New Ferry Service– What Next?
This year, the WTA will begin doing site-specific design, planning, and environmental studies funded by RM 2. Using modular designs and working with the individual communities to personalize them, the WTA will help to build

terminals for South San Francisco, Richmond, and Berkeley: services that have RM 2 funding. It will also continue planning for Redwood City, Treasure Island, Port Sonoma, Hercules, and Antioch/Martinez. The WTA hopes to deliver new, environmentally responsive boats as early as 2007.

The WTA’s ten-year plan includes new ferry routes to Berkeley, Richmond, Treasure Island, Antioch-Martinez, Hercules, South San Francisco, and Redwood City, and expansion of the existing routes serving Vallejo, Sausalito, Larkspur, Oakland, Alameda and Harbor Bay Island. To fill funding gaps not addressed in RM 2, the WTA will be working with communities on reserving local sales tax dollars for ferries and seeking transit impact fees from developers. Both Contra Costa and San Mateo counties are expected to include money for ferries in their local transportation sales tax measures that will go to a vote as early as November 2004.