REDWOOD CITY — It is becoming more likely that commuters in the South Bay will have a chance to use the San Francisco Ferry system to get to work as Redwood City sets out to study a potential expansion at its port.
If the Redwood City ferry stop comes to fruition after years of talk since it was first proposed in 1997, it will be the first stop south of the City of South San Francisco to be incorporated into the ferry system. The ferry stop would have connections to San Francisco and Oakland.
The network currently transports just under 9,000 people in six commuter ferry routes in Alameda, Oakland, two stops in South San Francisco, Vallejo and the recently-added terminal at Richmond.
Championed by those who say it will reduce traffic congestion in the South Bay, the ferry project has been garnering more support since 2015.
The 2020 study should be completed this summer, city officials said, and will be conducted alongside port officials and the Water Emergency Transportation Authority, the independent agency created in 2000 that oversees ferry service in the Bay Area.
“After many years in the making, it is an honor to support this partnership and take the next steps towards exploring an alternative transportation solution here at the Port of Redwood City,” said Redwood City Mayor Diane Howard. “This project exemplifies the City Council’s priority area of creating and maintaining safe, multimodal and accessible transportation options and I look forward to hearing the results of the study later this year.”
The studies will focus on examining capital and operating costs associated with the project, the construction of a new ferry terminal at the opening of the Port of Redwood City channel, economic impact and cost-benefit analyses and the procurement of vessels for ferry operation — the price tag of which could run between $14 and $21 million for each watercraft.
But the project still needs tens of millions of dollars that aren’t yet in hand and officials estimate it will take years until ferries are in operation.
The county Transportation Authority in May of 2018 approved $450,000 for the city to launch a feasibility study for building a ferry terminal at the port. Regional Measure 3, approved by Bay Area voters in June — which is currently being challenged by a lawsuit — provides $300 million for Bay Area ferry operations. An undetermined amount of those funds will go toward building the terminal and ferries for Redwood City.
In addition, $15 million was set aside for local ferry operations when county voters passed Measure A in 2008. Constructing a Redwood City terminal is expected to cost at least $30 million.
Still, officials are hopeful the project will pan out.
“We are pleased to have an approved MOU in place and eager to take the next steps toward expanding ferry services to the Port of Redwood City,” Chairman of the Board of Port Commissioners Ralph Garcia said. “This project will greatly support our region by providing a new transportation choice to and from Silicon Valley as well as reduce traffic congestion on our streets and highways.”
