Popular Richmond ferry opens for weekend trips to San Francisco

RICHMOND — For the first time Saturday, weekend travelers looking to skip the headache of bumper-to-bumper traffic down Interstate 80 into San Francisco were able to hop on the ferry in Richmond instead.

It couldn’t come soon enough for some passengers, who were lined up at the dock adjacent to the Craneway Pavilion for the first departure of the day.

“It’s a game-changer,” said Richmond resident Ed Jerum. “I love going into San Francisco but I hardly ever do it anymore because I hate getting stuck in traffic on the Bay Bridge.”

He expects he’ll take full advantage of the service with a number of upcoming weekend trips planned, he said.

Others, like Richmond resident Arlene Thompson, were just excited to try out the new ferry. She was one of 134 passengers who boarded the first ferry of the day and the second person in line.

Thompson doesn’t commute into San Francisco for work and there are no evening trips, leaving little time to experience the ferry first-hand since it debuted in January, she said.

“Now that there’s weekend service, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s fantastic,'” she said. She planned an outing just for fun and arranged a breakfast with family members at the Ferry Building.

The new weekend service will be offered for the next three months on a trial basis. It was in part a byproduct of the popularity of the new Richmond route, said Nina Rannells, executive director of the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA), which operates San Francisco Bay Ferry.

Authority officials always knew they wanted to test the Richmond route for weekend service, Rannells said, but the agency lacked the funds it needed to operate it. Thanks to a $238,400 appropriation of sales tax funds from Contra Costa County’s Measure J, the authority is able to offer the weekend trips for a limited time, she said.

“The funding we get through measure J was really originally contemplated specifically for weekday commuter service only,” she said. “But we started seeing immediately a request for weekend service.”

Passengers take roughly 800 trips on the Richmond route each weekday, a number that is growing every month. Because the number of commuters taking the weekday ferry is exceeding expectations — with about 40 percent more riders than the authority originally expected — the service doesn’t need as large of a subsidy to operate, Rannells said. That meant there was more wiggle-room in the budget to run the weekend trips, she added.

The water authority will be looking at the response from the leisure-time riders to determine whether to continue the weekend trips next summer or, eventually, all year, Rannells said.

“This provides a benefit for the local community who may not be a daily rider to San Francisco,” Rannells said, “and it really has the potential to reach into the community and provide something they can celebrate and be a part of.”

Patricia Daniels of San Pablo said too often it feels like Contra Costa County residents are treated as an afterthought when it comes to infrastructure improvements and upgrades. So she was thrilled to see the weekend service start and even more pleased it opened in time to for her to catch a ride into San Francisco to celebrate her birthday.

“This is excellent, though,” she said. “It’s calm, it’s relaxing, you can enjoy life.”

Richmond ferry: What you need to know to ride on the weekend

Where’s the terminal? Located at the end of Harbor Way South, the terminal is directly adjacent to the Craneway Pavilion. Put 1414 Harbour Way South into your GPS device, and you can’t miss it.

When does it run on the weekend? Ferry departures from the Richmond terminal leave at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 4:50 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. Return trips from the Ferry Building in San Francisco leave at 10:05 a.m., 11:35 a.m., 1:05 p.m., 5:25 p.m., and 7:20 p.m.

How much does it cost? A one-way, adult fare is $9, or $6.75 with a Clipper card, the same as the commute price. Clipper card users simply tap on and off on the gangways. Otherwise, you can buy your ticket on the ferry or on your smartphone with the Hopthru app. Youth between the ages of 5 and 18, seniors aged 65 and over, and disabled passengers pay $4.50. Kids under 5 years old are free.

Can I park there? Yes. There is free parking with 362 spaces.

What if I want to bike? You sure can. There are standard bike racks at the terminal, along with the more-secure BikeLink lockers, which you can unlock with a BikeLink card. There are also at least 20 spots for bikes on the ferry, so you can bring your bike aboard, too.