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ChineseBay Area Diaries — Part V: Golden Gate Ferry
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Attention, Bay Area Diaries readers. Due to technical problems with what was supposed to be Part IV: Sonoma County running today, the Bay Area Diaries is running Part V: Golden Gate Ferry in order to attempt to remain on schedule. MetroRiderLA apologizes for the inconvenience, and we will try to resume a normal operating schedule as soon as possible.
Just sit right back and hear a tale, a tale of a fun-filled trip. Fortunately, on Golden Gate Ferry, there are no castaways and the tour is only a fraction of three hours.
Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with the Bay Area Diaries on what is, hands down, a commute that makes the journey as fun as the destionation.
A round trip on Golden Gate Ferry’s Mendocino catamaran between San Francisco was a short, fun cruise. The vessel left the San Francisco Ferry Building at 10:55 a.m. January 17. This mid-day trip only drew about 40 people, about 10 percent of the ferry’s total capacity. A fellow traveler said this was typical for mid-day trips, but during rush hour the ferries can and do fill to capacity.
A trip was $7.10 each way, with discount tickets available to frequent riders. This had a $2.75 premium over a similarly priced distance on a Golden Gate Transit bus. The premium comes with a faster trip on mostly uncongested waters on a transit mode that thinks its a cruise ship. Or vice versa.
There wasn’t a bad seat in the house. The ferry has three levels, with indoor and outdoor sections. The cruise through the bay gave 360-degree views of the awesome San Francisco skyline, the industrial workings of the East Bay and the engineering marvel of three bridges. The ferry also passed by Angel Island before docking at the Larkspur Terminal. The catamaran, with a lower capacity but a higher-speed than the larger Spauldings, arrived in Larkspur in about a half hour. The ferry waited for another 10 minutes before it returned to San Francisco.
In or out? Either offers a great view, depending on tolerance of wind.
The ferry traveled at 36 knots, the equivalent of about 41 miles per hour. It was also nice for the ship’s pilot not to have to brake for boaters gabbing on cell phones or applying make-up instead of paying attention to the “road.”
Golden Gate Ferry doesn’t just want people to ride. It also hosed provided riders with food and drinks provided at a concession counter on the bottom floor. The sustenance was the kinds of chips, cookies and drinks found at a corner bodega, but with a smaller selection and a higher price. On the upside, Golden Gate Ferry had a liquor license. Public transit agencies have an obligation to carry all, including the inebriated; this was one rare instance where the agency encourages the habit. The prices on booze and food are high enough to slightly offset the “transit riders are parasites on society impact fees.” That’s libertarianese for subsidies.
Once the ride ended, the presence of the ferries allowed for communities near the terminals to offer a destination experience. Larkspur, for instance, has the Larkspur Landing Shopping Center across the ferry terminal. The terminal itself is a sea of parking spaces. Not a one of the 1,500 spaces was available. Larkspur also had a gift available for RobDawg, presented here: an anecdote.
Larkspur presented clear evidence of how public transit causes congestion. The ferry attracts at least 1,500 cars, those of which find a space in the terminal lot. That’s just the number visible. There are presumably hundreds, if not thousands, of other cars passing by this area finding parking elsewhere or failing to find a spot. These cars would normally go to San Francisco if ferry service was not available. The ferry reduced traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge and within San Francisco, but the congestion was displaced to Larkspur. The buses on US-101 traveled at full speed, right up until a major bottleneck between San Rafael and Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. That’s the street that leads directly to the Larkspur terminal. QED.
Anyhoo, Larkspur, along with Marin’s two other ferry landings in Sausalito and Tiburon, converted the communities near the terminals to quaint seaside villages. Hey, it’s better than building an auto mall to mine for sales taxes.
MV Mendocino departs the Ferry Terminal, in the foreground, and heads to Larkspur, but not without leaving a gorgeous visual of San Francisco’s skyline.
San Francisco’s Ferry Terminal should not go without mention. The city sure put its best foot forward with this building. Form and function go hand in hand. The terminal, at the eastern edge of the city, serves as a port of entry for Golden Gate’s Marin ferries, as well as commuter ships from Vallejo and Oakland and Alameda. Blue & Gold Fleet, a private carrier primarily for tourist sailing, also serves this terminal as well as Fisherman’s Wharf. Once passengers arrive, they can pick up a free transfer to Muni and go all over the city by bus or train. BART’s Embarcadero station is across the street, with trains going to points on both sides of the bay. But, it’s a shame when hurried travelers didn’t take time to see the Ferry Building itself.
The Ferry Building housed San Francisco’s gourmet gulch, a shopping experience similar to our Farmer’s Market. In fact, it even has a twice-weekly farmer’s market. Now that’s re-use. For more Ferry Building fun, here are the list of merchants and the terminal’s storied past and present.
A modest proposal
Larkspur ho! It has 1,500 parking spaces and a shopping center. It may have a commuter rail line in several years.
The Larkspur ferry may also be a key element in the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit proposal. A commuter rail line would parallel US-101 through Sonoma and Marin counties and end near the ferry terminal. Passengers would then sail into San Francisco.
Some merits of the rail line would be little to no driving to commuter rail stations, and the service may attract more people who aren’t using the Golden Gate Transit commute buses. A big drawback, though, is the unpopularity of having to transfer twice — once at Larkspur between rail and ferry, and again in San Francisco — even if the overall trip time may be faster.
Should the SMART rail idea fail again, the North Bay counties should not walk away dejected. Instead, consider a crackpot idea from the Bay Area Diaries. If rail fails, then consider … amphibious transit. In other words, allow riders to have a one-seat ride and still take the ferry into San Francisco.
The money that would have gone to building commuter rail would instead go to buying new ferries that could haul buses across the bay. Most of the commute buses can be converted into routes that would enter the ferry instead of continuing along the freeway, and in San Francisco become feeder lines that could then run to the Financial Center, Civic Center or other destinations. Theoretically, this would still be faster than the northwest-to-east passage within San Francisco, and many riders would remain on a single vehicle while the bus and not they make the transfers.
As far as crackpot ideas go, amphibious transit has just a fraction of the inanity than the inevitable calls for the gadgetbahn garbage of monorail. Or worse, BART.
Dropping anchor
The Bay Area Diaries cast a wide sardine net — a large amount of small quantities — to experience the full buffet of transit options available in, around, to and away from San Francisco. The highlight of this “meal,” if it were, was the ferry ride. It was tremendously fun, taking a fast vessel across the bay. It was a sensory delight: sitting on an outer deck alternately heated by the sun on a clear January day and cooled by the brisk bay air; watching and feasting on the panormaic scenery; smelling the salt-tinged air. Oh, and tasting the $2.50 Snapple from the ship’s snack counter. Nothing of consequence to report for the touch sense though, except for keeping hands in pockets for warmth.
Golden Gate Ferry did provide an unforgettable travel experience, a common man’s cruise at $14 and some change.
Previously:
 Photo by neutralSurface via Flickr (Creative Commons license) |
BART Board for upcoming arrivals:
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Discussion
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Please keep discussions civil: exercise Troll Controll.
This is an obstacle, but not an insurmountable one. Here in the New York area thousands of commuters do this double transfer every day, changing from bus to ferry in New Jersey or Staten Island, and then from ferry to bus or train in Manhattan.
Of course, if it’s not done right, it’s not sustainable.
Thanks for this series; it’s fascinating.
I agree with Cap’n Transit — transfers aren’t that much of a pain when you have frequent service like we do in The City.
The ferries are also jam packed with tourists on the weekends. They’re a popular way to get across the Bay for day trippers. And yeah, riding the boat is a fun treat.