San Francisco Bay Ferry services slashed
Written by Nick BlenkeyThe San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) has announced that its San Francisco Bay Ferry service will be temporarily reduced in response to regional efforts to reduce the spread of coronavirus.
All routes are affected by these changes, which go into effect on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, and will remain in place through at least April 7, 2020.
Ferry service on the Richmond, Harbor Bay and South San Francisco routes is suspended. Limited service will be offered on the Vallejo and Alameda/Oakland routes connecting to Downtown San Francisco. All weekend service and service to Pier 41 San Francisco and Mare Island has been suspended.
All temporary schedules can be found HERE.
Service reductions were made following public health orders in six Bay Area counties directing residents to shelter at their places of residence with limited exceptions. Ferry ridership has dramatically dropped over the past week and WETA expects that to continue with Monday’s public health orders.
Bay Area residents performing essential travel under the public health orders in place are encouraged to check 511.org for transit options currently in operation.
WETA says the service reduction is being implemented to adhere to public health guidelines in an effort to slow the rate of transmission of coronavirus and preserve resources given the reduced transportation needs of the Bay Area at this time.
WETA will continue to monitor ridership and coordinate with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and regional partners to adjust service levels as necessary over this period.
In late February, WETA and its operator, Blue & Gold Fleet, began additional disinfection of frequently touched surfaces using cleaners confirmed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to kill coronavirus. This includes disinfectant fogging in the passenger cabins of each ferry twice weekly.
WETA is a regional public transit agency tasked with operating and expanding ferry service on the San Francisco Bay and with coordinating the water transit response to regional emergencies. San Francisco Bay Ferry, a service of WETA, operates ferry routes connecting the cities of Alameda, Oakland, Richmond, San Francisco, South San Francisco and Vallejo.