Local Funds Support New Ferry Service : California Association of Councils of Governments

The commute in the Bay Area is among the nations most challenging. To ease congestion, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority is investing in a mode not available to most regions: ferries.

The San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA), Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA), and the City of Richmond teamed up to launch the Richmond Ferry Terminal. The new service offers four peak direction and two reverse commute trips between Richmond’s Ford Point and the San Francisco Ferry Building. The ferry service carries nearly 3 million passengers annually.

CCTA is contributing local transportation tax revenues to fund operations for at least 10 years. This kind of operations support is generally the hardest funding to raise. Most funding programs are designed for capital improvements, not operations.

“The Contra Costa Transportation Authority is proud to be a funding partner of this new ferry service, which is creating a stronger connection between Contra Costa County’s communities and the Bay Area region,” said Federal Glover, CCTA’s Board Chair. “Providing commuters with more options helps make our county a more desirable place to live, to operate a business, and to raise a family.”

WETA has developed an ambitious vision to expand the system to include 44 vessels, 16 terminals, and 12 routes. The resulting system would increase peak period capacity by 740 percent by 2035.

Capital funding for the Richmond Ferry Terminal was provided by Regional Measure 2 (a voter supported $1 increase of bridge tolls in 2004), State Proposition 1B, and U.S. Department of Transportation funds. The total project cost for design and construction was $20 million.