BY JOEL WILLIAMS
Published: March, 2018
On February 8, the Water Emergency Transportation Authority Board (WETA) approved a resolution supporting Regional Measure 3 (RM3), the bridge toll ballot measure that voters in the nine Bay Area counties will consider during the statewide elections on June 5.
If approved by voters, RM3 would raise $4.5 billion of much-needed funds to support projects designed to reduce traffic, relieve crowding on BART, unclog freeway bottlenecks and improve bus, ferry and commuter rail service in the Bay Area.
The measure would provide WETA with $300 million for capital projects and up to $35 million in annual operating expenses. WETA would use RM3 to build new vessels and terminals, enhance service on existing routes and launch service to new locations including Berkeley, San Francisco’s Mission Bay and Redwood City.
Since 2012, WETA’s San Francisco Bay Ferry ridership has increased 94 percent, to an annual total of 2.7 million riders. Current peak period occupancies on WETA services average above 95 percent on most trips, with Vallejo and Harbor Bay services reaching capacity during peak times. To accommodate this rapid growth in demand and to prepare for planned ferry service expansion, WETA has been modernizing and expanding its fleet. The first of four 400-passenger, 27-knot vessels—the Hydrus and Cetus—have already entered service, while the Argo and Carina are expected in May and December this year.
In addition, WETA has three new 445-passenger, 34-knot water jet vessels on order for the Vallejo ferry service. The first vessel, which will replace the retiring Vallejo, is expected this November. The remaining two vessels are due in July and December 2019.
Approval of RM3 would enable WETA to advance its 2016 Strategic Plan. The strategic plan describes a bold vision for the future of ferry service in the Bay Area over the next 20 years. At full buildout the plan calls for a fleet of 44 vessels, 16 terminals and 12 service routes. Departures during peak periods would be increased to every 15 minutes in the highest volume locations and 30 minutes at all other terminals.
The level of expansion planned will allow WETA to quadruple ridership capacity from approximately 10,000 daily passengers today to more than 40,000 in the future. At the same time, the expansion will extend the reach of the current route network to provide a service that is truly regional. While there are currently only five peak-hour landings at the San Francisco Ferry Building, there will be 25 landings in the peak hour once the expansion and enhancement program is realized.
Some aspects of this vision are already in position or currently under construction. The new North Bay Maintenance Facility in Vallejo opened in 2016 with expanded service to the Mare Island Ferry Terminal beginning in March of last year. The Ron Cowan Central Bay Maintenance Facility in Alameda that began construction in September 2016 will open this summer. Both facilities are designed to accommodate a much larger fleet than exists today.
And the hard-to-miss construction project for the expansion of the downtown San Francisco Ferry Terminal will support new ferry services from Richmond and Treasure Island, as well as other potential locations being considered.
WETA requires a significant increase in funding to achieve the goals set forward in the strategic plan. Funds from bridge tolls on the state-owned bridges (the Golden Gate Bridge is not state-owned) in the Bay Area, provided though Regional Measures 1 and 2 (passed in 1988 and 2004 respectively), have historically served as the primary mechanism to support the development and growth of WETA’s regional ferry system.
These funds are fixed and fully used today to support WETA’s existing system of ferry services, resulting in the need for new, similarly dedicated funds to maintain, sustain, enhance and expand regional ferry service in the coming years as well as provide increased emergency response capabilities, a role mandated in the agency’s state charter.
This is why passage of RM3 is so important to the future of ferry service in the San Francisco Bay Area. Without these new funds, not only will WETA not have the ability to realize the ambitious goals set forward in its long-term plan, actions would actually have to be taken to reduce existing service—which would be unimaginable to those who have experienced the dreadful feeling of being left behind when a ferry fills to capacity during peak hours.
“We have a fixed amount of money that we get today and over time, without new money like RM3 would provide, we would be in a position of starting to cut services or raise fares,” said WETA Executive Director Nina Rannells. “RM3 is going to allow us to not only enhance and expand service but maintain and sustain service.”
The funds that WETA would receive through RM3 would also allow some flexibility to set aside operating dollars not used in a given year for the future, providing the agency with the ability to create better long-term fiscal security.
According to Rannells, the structure of RM2, which provides WETA with the majority of its operating funds, does not allow this flexibility. “Regional Measure 2 funds are use-it-or-lose-it. Any money that we didn’t spent in a year reverts back to MTC rather than being able to build a reserve for that certainty down the road. RM3 does allow us to do that. That’s huge for us as it gives us fiscal independence and stability to our business and we don’t have that today.”
Historically, ferries have played a major transportation role in the San Francisco Bay Area. They were the sole means of crossing the Bay until the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges were built in the 1930s. In other words, the Bay Area has always been a place for ferries. The ability to expand the existing service into a truly world-class transit system is now within our reach. Without the funds that RM3 would provide WETA to attain this goal, however, that vision could easily slip through our hands.
