The San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority (WTA) has announced the launch of its new website, which you can visit at: www.watertransit.org.
Published: July, 2004
This website, always good for basics–like when you want the latest ferry schedules but don’t want to look up each and every individual ferry operator–has just gotten better. Apart from superficial changes, including a brand-new look with fresh photos, the site features the newest information on proposed new ferry routes, with detailed informational fact sheets on these routes, including Antioch/Martinez, Berkeley, Hercules, Redwood City, Richmond, South San Francisco, and Treasure Island. Whether you want meeting information, staff contact and biographies, easy access to public documents, or background information on the agency, the WTA’s website is a one-stop shop.
Summer outings just got easier to plan, too! Using the existing ferry service, the WTA has crafted some special summertime outings for families, cyclists, and for tourists or locals who need a vacation here at home. Here are some samples:
Fun Trips on Ferries–Bike Across the Bay
From San Francisco to Marin County, ferries cut the distance for you
This Fun Trip, broken into three biking jaunts, shows you how to effectively use ferries to supplement your summer tours. You can choose a trip for the absolute novice cyclist, or a longer trip for the more competent cyclist. It all depends on your energy and skill level. Bottom line: this is your chance to enjoy the Bay Area via bike and boat with sightseeing and suggested stops for sustenance to keep you going.
Fun Trips on Ferries–Kids Play on the Bay
Avoid the traffic: start your family outing on a ferry. With the guidance offered by the WTA’s Fun Trips, your kids are virtually guaranteed a good time; and you will benefit from a reduction in your stress-level that can be attributed to leaving the driving to professionals.
What could be more promising in your search for amusement than visiting a place that calls itself an “amusement park?” One destination within the WTA’s Fun Trips for kids instructs you on the easiest way to access Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo, where you and your family can sing along to new musicals, watch colorful fish, and choose from tame rides such as go-carts or more adventurous rides like roller coasters.
For the ultimate tourist experience, families will want to visit the remote island of Alcatraz. This tour is so popular that it requires at least a week’s advance booking during the summer months. The WTA website will give you the insight you need to get there hassle-free.
Fun Trips on Ferries–Shoreline Snacking and Shopping
If San Francisco’s summer fog has got you down, what better place to flee than to picturesque Marin County, typically ten or more degrees warmer and sunnier than San Francisco? When the quaint towns of Sausalito and Tiburon are only a half hour
away by ferry, it’s a wonder there’s room on the boats for more passengers. Once in Sausalito or Tiburon, you can cheer yourself further with a dose of retail shopping therapy at one of the specialty shops where the selection ranges from toffee to original art with much in between. To keep you going, of course you’ll want to pause frequently to enjoy the views, but you may also require readily available sustenance such as Italian sodas, international cuisine, coffee or tea.
visit to the San Francisco Ferry Terminal via Ferry (of course)
Whether starting or returning from your trip via ferry, no ride is complete without a tour of San Francisco’s newly refurbished downtown ferry terminal. Of special note: visit on a Saturday morning, when the outdoor Farmers’ Market is in full swing, perfuming the air with tantalizing scents and tempting you with delicious seasonal produce and samples of sundries served on toothpicks.
The WTA website: not just another tool for updates; it can also help to bring fun into your life!
