Ferry Q&A is where you can have your questions about Bay Area ferry service answered by the professionals who speak for the ferry systems on a daily basis.
Published: May, 2019
Ferry Q&A is where you can have your questions about Bay Area ferry service answered by the professionals who speak for the ferry systems on a daily basis. Thomas Hall is the public information and marketing manager for WETA, the agency that runs the San Francisco Bay Ferry service. Priya Clemens is his counterpart at Golden Gate Transit. Their answers to your ferry questions are marked with a “WETA” and a “GG,” respectively.
Please submit your questions today to info@baycrossings.com.
What is the policy on overnight parking at the Ferry Terminals?
WETA: Parking at the Vallejo Ferry Terminal is controlled by the City of Vallejo. Overnight parking is allowed in Vallejo’s public waterfront lots subject to posted time restrictions and provided that the duration of time the vehicle is parked is paid for. There is no overnight parking in the lots at the Alameda Main Street, Harbor Bay, Richmond or South San Francisco terminals or the garage serving the Oakland terminal. We recommend those taking a one-way trip into San Francisco use transit, shuttles or other modes to get to the ferry terminal.
GG: We do not have overnight parking available at any of our terminals. In Larkspur, while a ticket is valid for 24 hours, parking is still not permitted overnight.
How can I find out in advance which ferryboats will be providing service at specific departure times?
WETA: San Francisco Bay Ferry does not currently have a boat lineup page available. The fleet’s two oldest and most idiosyncratic ferries (Vallejo and Encinal) were retired at the end of 2018 and we hope to offer the same comfortable experience on all of our vessels going forward. We know capacity differences among the ferries affect queuing and fill-up times (especially on the Vallejo service), so we are looking at potential solutions.
GG: Our ferries are not typically slotted to a certain service every week, as we need to maintain flexibility to cover all our runs when a vessel is out for maintenance. We work hard to service our commute runs with high-speed catamarans to ensure 30- to 35-minute crossings. We also keep a high-capacity passenger ferry on the Sausalito route so our regular commuters are less impacted during high tourism months.
