With BART, bridges and highways jammed, ferries’ popularity swells in Bay Area

The Golden Gate Ferry boat Del Norte departs from the Larkspur Ferry Terminal in Larkspur, Calif. for a run to San Francisco on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. Ridership is up on ferry commuter routes prompting transit officials to revise schedules to accommodate the demand. less The Golden Gate Ferry boat Del Norte departs from the Larkspur Ferry Terminal in Larkspur, Calif. for a run to San Francisco on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. Ridership is up on ferry commuter routes prompting ... more Photo: Paul Chinn / The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Chinn / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close With BART, bridges and highways jammed, ferries’ popularity swells in Bay Area 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

A cold, slanting rain lashed the roof of the Larkspur Ferry Terminal, but passengers still made their way in on a recent morning, en route to offices in San Francisco.

By 8:19 a.m., the 448-capacity boat was nearly full and an attendant shut the gate, waving off five stragglers who begged to be let in. The 7:20 and 7:50 a.m. vessels had also been packed, a sign of how popular this mode of transport has become in the congested Bay Area.

As recently as 10 years ago, ferries were still a novelty in the region — old-fashioned, diesel-belching beasts that drew tourists, but didn’t serve many weekday commuters. That’s all changed as BART chokes with standing-room crowds and more people seek alternatives to perpetually snarled freeways. The Bay Area is now the third biggest market for ferries in the country behind Seattle and New York City. It seems the future of mass transit includes more of the ambling boats of the past.

“For five years, we’ve had year-over-year growth, and now we’re maxed out,” said Priya Clemens, spokeswoman for the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District, which oversees the Larkspur ferry.

Politicians and transportation officials hope to sustain the enthusiasm even as agencies struggle with rising demand. The strain is particularly evident in Larkspur, which saw a spike in business after it shifted from old Spaulding vessels to new high-speed catamarans that arrive in San Francisco in 30 minutes, compared with the slothful 45-minute trips of the older boats.

Meanwhile, the romance of boat travel is beginning to give way to the realities of urban commuting. Ferries routinely fill during rush hour, said Ron Downing, director of planning for the bridge district. Customers get left on the dock and cars cram every parking space — 1,800 in the main lot, 230 in the overflow lot — by mid-morning most weekdays.

“That’s the only disadvantage — that they fill up and leave a minute early,” said Esther Chang. She was among the latecomers who missed the 8:19 a.m. boat, which was scheduled to depart at 8:20. Chang would have to wait half an hour for the next one.

Ferries hold obvious appeal for North Bay commuters whose other options are limited — BART doesn’t travel to Marin County, and traffic is heavy on the Golden Gate Bridge. But ridership has surged at other terminals as well. Over the last six years, the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority has seen the number of passengers double at its terminals in San Francisco, Vallejo, Oakland, Alameda, South San Francisco and Mare Island — from 1.4 million in 2012 to an estimated 2.9 million this year.

“For people living in Vallejo and Alameda, these ferries have been totally transformative,” said Randy Rentschler, legislative director of the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

Photo: Paul Chinn / The Chronicle Commuters headed for San Francisco make their way onto a Golden...

Richmond will take its second stab at a ferry line soon , with a terminal scheduled to open Jan. 10 at the south end of Harbour Way, where wine cellars and restaurants are starting to bloom in the shells of old warehouses. The city tried opening a ferry service in 1999 — a time when Richmond’s economy was collapsing — but it sputtered within a year after averaging 50 riders a day . Yet Richmond Mayor Tom Butt has high hopes this time around, as population growth in west Contra Costa C ounty clogs Interstates 80 and 580. Butt predicts that ferries will ease pressure on those freeways while luring development to the shoreline.

“It’s got a fighting chance this time,” Rentschler said. “I-80 and BART are way worse than they used to be.”

Some policymakers tout ferries as a potential salve not only for commuters in the North Bay and East Bay, but for the booming waterfront neighborhoods in San Francisco. The need for transit innovation has become more urgent as the clock ticks on next year’s opening of the 18,000-seat Warriors arena in Mission Bay, and some officials are pressing for a bus-like water taxi system. It would shuttle people from the Presidio to the new Hunters Point shipyard development.

Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, successfully pressed for $300 million of the Bay Area’s Regional Measure 3 toll hikes to be invested in new ferry infrastructure, along with $35 million annually to support operating costs.

He described maritime transit as a relatively quick and inexpensive way to get people across the bay, especially when it’s compared to long, laborious projects like a second Transbay BART Tube.

“We’re trying to double the number of ferry stops and double the operating capacity,” Chiu said. He and others pointed to several new terminals in the works — in Richmond and another planned to serve residents of a 68-acre development at Alameda Point.

Transportation planners are also betting on ferries to accommodate thousands of new residents on Treasure Island, a small hump of land where a massive residential development is taking shape. It includes a new ferry terminal that will open in 2021 and initially run boats to the Embarcadero every 30 minutes during peak hours — increasing to every 15 minutes throughout the day by 2035. At that point, transportation planners expect 24,000 new island residents.

Officials at the county transportation authority see the zipping boats as a solution to what would otherwise be a traffic nightmare on the Bay Bridge.

In years to come, ferries could even cut down carbon emissions. The Bay Area is leading that front: A clean-energy startup called Golden Gate Zero Emission Marine is building the nation’s first hydrogen fuel cell passenger ferry on the Alameda side of the Oakland Estuary. It should be ready to ply the bay by the end of next year.

The assurance of a calm, even enjoyable commute enticed some passengers at Larkspur terminal, who shelled out $7.75 apiece for one-way trips across the bay. Some described their daily ride to work in terms that might seem unthinkable to people who inch across highways or squeeze onto BART everyday: “smooth,” “relaxing,” “quick.”

“It’s an easy ride, and the views are awesome,” said Dave Weiner, clutching his coffee cup and blinking away raindrops as he stood in line at the Larkspur dock.

For many, the 30-minute crossings provide time to read newspapers, buy coffee or beer at the concession stand, or stand out on the deck and gaze at the steel and glass landscape of San Francisco.

The downside is crowding, which creates a quandary for Golden Gate Ferry, the boat-operating arm of the bridge district.

Next year, Golden Gate may increase the number of daily trips out of Larkspur, which now stands at 42. The proposed service boost may become more urgent next year because it coincides with a planned extension of the North Bay SMART train to a new stop in Larkspur. Once that stop opens, it will likely send more commuters flocking to the Larkspur ferry.

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

Twitter: @rachelswan