Archives

August 2000

From a distance, it looks like an ordinary catamaran harbor ferry. But the sleek white vessel was much more than just an upgraded version of the ferries that ply Sydney harbor. More...

From 1918 to 1972, a siren was sounded at 8am, noon, and 4:30 pm. Perhaps it sounded unsettlingly like an air raid warning; whatever the reason, the siren was replaced with a chimes system in 1972. The Loma Preita earthquake damaged the chimes and a modern system of loudspeakers connected to a CD system was installed. More...

Warm sand beneath my toes. Finals done. Freedom. Summer at last!A glistening sea extends to the far-off horizon. As I gaze at that delicate line, I know that a continent is on the other side, but I can only imagine where. Swimming out for the big one. It takes me giddy, up, up to the sky then down again – its blue silken back ripples with invisible muscles. I extract myself from the swirling, refreshing, living mass engulfing me and find my beach blanket. The rhythmic cadence of waves travels through the sand to my ear on the blanket as I drift off to sleep in a sunny daze of suntan lotion, Rolling Stones songs from transistor radios, and thoughts about how the last wave curled like a lock of my boyfriend’s hair. More...

Jack London Square, the Oakland terminus of the Alameda/Oakland ferry line, doesn’t exactly overflow with charm. More...

Paul Greene is Director of the Washington State Ferry System More...

These pictures are immediately recognizable to Alameda/Oakland ferry riders. It’s impossible to ride that line and not goggle at the passing scenery of freighters, cranes and tugboats. More...

The Federal government, responding to rapidly increasing water transit patronage, is asserting a leadership role in defining the future of the national ferry system. In addition to the National Ferry Project (covered in the July issue of Bay Crossings) the Department of Transportation hosted a two-day conference on ferries in Seattle on June 9-10. Excerpted below are comments from the keynote speech by Clyde J. Hart, Jr., Maritime Administrator. More...

Kevin Shanahan is President and principal owner of Cummins West, Inc., which sells and services the products of the Cummins Engine Company of Columbus, Indiana, the world’s largest producer of heavy-duty diesel and natural gas engines. From its headquarters in San Leandro and its other locations in northern and central California, Cummins West’s 250 employees (many of whom are affiliated with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) serve on-highway, off-highway, agricultural, marine, and fixed facility users of diesel and natural gas engines. Kevin has worked closely with the California Air Resources Board as a member of the Carl Moyer Program Advisory Board. He is also involved with leading edge technologies and cleaner fuels aimed at reducing emissions. More...