Officials in San Francisco have a new transit solution to pipe thousands of Warriors fans to the Chase Center arena when it opens this fall: a temporary ferry terminal at Mission Rock.

The landing, really just a gangway connected to the pier south of Mission Creek, needs to run through a long gantlet of approvals. But if everything aligns perfectly, it would open in time for the first game day in October — and possibly as early as September.

In two years, the city hopes to open a more substantial ferry landing at 16th Street near Mission Rock, which would serve commuters as well as sports revelers. It would be the latest addition to a bus-like water transit service that enthralls politicians and transit experts, with stops at Fisherman’s Wharf, downtown and Treasure Island.

Ferries to Chase Center have “very good ridership potential,” said David Beaupre, a senior waterfront planner at the Port of San Francisco. He presented the new ferry service to the city’s main transit board Tuesday, part of a larger transit menu to accommodate the 18,000-seat basketball arena.

Policymakers have eyed ferries as a solution for growing congestion in the Bay Area — a new terminal opened in Richmond earlier this year, and another is planned at the massive Treasure Island development. The Regional Measure 3 bridge-toll hikes that voters approved last year included $300 million for ferry infrastructure, along with $35 million annually to support operating costs.

That money has been held in escrow amid two lawsuits challenging the measure, one of which was dismissed last week in San Francisco Superior Court . Those cases held up the plans and forced Mayor London Breed to work quickly with other agencies — including the port and two ferry operators — to come up with an interim solution.

Breed is “committed to doing everything she can to prepare for the increase in visitors to the neighborhood during Warriors games and special events, including ensuring we have ferry service as an option,” said the mayor’s spokesman, Jeff Cretan.

A review of Warriors season-ticket-holder demographics by the two ferry operators, Golden Gate Transit and the Water Emergency Transportation Authority, showed that many live in port-side areas of Oakland, Alameda, Marin and South San Francisco. That intrigued some board directors, whose faces lit up Tuesday at the prospect of a permanent ferry line in 2021.

San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency chief Ed Reiskin also cheered the idea, albeit in a more reserved tone.

“Any way that we can get people to the Chase Center that’s not in a car is a good thing,” he said.

Before it opens, the temporary landing needs regulatory approvals from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, and the Bay Area Water Quality Control Board. The directors of Golden Gate Transit, WETA and the Port Commission will also need to sign off.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @rachelswan