San Francisco, CA — The Port of San Francisco announced on Dec. 13, that it has signed a five-year lease with the San Francisco Bay Water Transit Authority (WTA) for WTA’s headquarters and operations center.
Published: January, 2007
The WTA is a regional agency empowered by the State of California to develop and operate a comprehensive Bay Area water transit system. WTA will be occupying nearly 12,000 square feet of space and an exclusive berthing facility at Pier 9, just north of the historic Ferry Building on The Embarcadero.
We’re thrilled to have the WTA headquartered at the Port as ferry transit is one of our key maritime industries, stated Port of San Francisco Executive Director Monique Moyer. Their mandate for expanding ferry routes covering numerous locations around the Bay Area will serve to alleviate traffic congestion in and out of San Francisco.
As responsible stewards of public lands, we are excited to work with the WTA providing them the facilities to achieve their State-mandated goals, commented San Francisco Mayor, Gavin Newsom. The WTA’s efforts will deliver new vessels to the Bay Area that are 10-times cleaner than our existing ferries and 85 percent better than the Environmental Protection Agency’s emissions standards for 2007.
The Port is home to eight ferry landings including the Golden Gate Bridge District’s ferry terminal located at the rear of the Ferry Building. Nearly four million ferry passengers transit Port of San Francisco facilities each year making it the leading ferry passenger port in California. The WTA has aggressive plans for adding at least eight new routes in the near future as Bay Area ridership is projected to climb to 12 million passengers by the year 2025.
It’s great to be coming to the Port of San Francisco, said Steve Castleberry, WTA’s executive director. Our maritime staff has been seeking a home on the waterfront for the past six years, and Pier 9 is the perfect location. This new space allows us to continue our regional ferry planning functions, accommodates our acquisition and operation of ferries and enhances our ability to further promote water transit to Northern California commuters. We appreciate all that the Port and the Mayor’s Office have done to help us move into our new headquarters and operations center.
For more information on future ferry routes, visit the Water Transit Authority website www.watertransit.org
