We're taking a detour from the personality profiles that typically appear in this space each month to provide you with some insight on how Golden Gate Ferry plans to prepare for the Bay Area's event of the decade: Super Bowl 50.
Photo by Joel Williams
By Matt Larson
Published: February, 2016
We’re taking a detour from the personality profiles that typically appear in this space each month to provide you with some insight on how Golden Gate Ferry plans to prepare for the Bay Area’s event of the decade: Super Bowl 50. By the time you read this, the madness may already be over, but as of this writing—two weeks before the Super Bowl—the craziness is just beginning.
“There’s an awful lot of planning going on to try to make that week as easy on our customers as possible,” said Deputy General Manager Jim Swindler of Golden Gate Ferry. Golden Gate has been engaging in weekly planning meetings with ferry operators and representatives from the Super Bowl to make sure they’re preparing accordingly. “The primary purpose is to get educated on what Super Bowl City will look like and how it will impact our clientele—what sort of demand may be placed on our system,” he said. “It’s a very complex event and it’s still in development.”
This event promises to eclipse even the San Francisco Giants’ frequent World Series wins. “The World Series is quite a different dynamic,” Swindler said. “There’s only one real event that goes on and that’s the parade day when the Giants win. The World Series themselves are pretty easy; this Super Bowl is unique.” As if the Olympics were coming to town, Super Bowl City will forever be a part of Bay Area history.
Additional ferry services will be offered (see pages 20-21) to ensure a seat not only for Golden Gate Ferry’s 5,000 daily riders, but also for all the new visitors who’ll be attending the numerous special events and concerts scheduled every day of the week leading up to the Super Bowl (see page 14). “We’re paying a lot of attention to making sure that the week prior to the Super Bowl is painless for our daily customers,” said Swindler. A special brochure and schedule highlighting Super Bowl details is available at all Golden Gate Ferry locations, and online at www.goldengateferry.org.
Golden Gate Ferry will be ready to handle this customer surge, as they’ve been accommodating increases in ridership for some time. “We’ve been noting increases of anywhere from one to three percent a year now over the past several years,” said Swindler. “Generally over the past seven years we’ve been in a growth mode; we’ve increased our service quite a bit.” While there are no major changes planned for Golden Gate Ferry this year, it is currently in talks with Blue & Gold Fleet about taking over the Tiburon service, though analysis is still ongoing.
For 2016, the plan is to just keep things flowing smoothly while planning for the years to come. Parking at Larkspur is one ongoing topic of discussion. “Our parking is full here in Larkspur, and has been full for quite a while,” said Swindler. To provide some relief, there is now an overflow parking lot across the street. “From a parking standpoint we have a little breathing room—but it probably won’t last more than a couple years,” he said. “So we’re trying to think out a number of years and be ready for that.”
If you’re still wondering whether you should take the ferry into San Francisco for Super Bowl events, hear it from Golden Gate’s deputy general manager himself: “Obviously, it’s a great way to commute and not be on the road. We think we provide an excellent service. Our vessels are outstanding; we’ve gone through a capital improvement process over the past seven years and our vessels are in really good shape—I think the customers love them.” So if you’re planning on experiencing Super Bowl festivities, consider taking the ferry!.
