SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
WATER EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Thursday, March 13, 2025 at 1:00 p.m.
Alameda City Hall
Council Chambers
2263 Santa Clara Avenue, 3rd Floor
Alameda, CA
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Members of the Board
James Wunderman, Chair
Monique Moyer, Vice Chair
Jessica Alba
Jeffrey DelBono
Pippin Dew
The full agenda packet is available for download at sanfranciscobayferry.com/next-board-meeting/ AGENDA
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. ROLL CALL/PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
3. REPORT OF BOARD CHAIR
a. Chair’s Verbal Report
4. REPORTS OF DIRECTORS
Directors are limited to providing information, asking clarifying questions about matters not on the agenda, responding to public comment, referring matters to committee or staff for information, or requesting a report to be made at another meeting.
5. REPORTS OF STAFF
a. Executive Director’s Report on Agency Projects, Activities and Services i. Alameda Ferry Terminal Access Update
ii. CARB Alternative Control of Emissions Approval and MV Karl Acceptance and Delivery
b. Review of Financial Statements
c. Federal Legislative Update
d. State Legislative Update
e. Ridership Report
f. Reliability and On-Time Performance Report
6. CONSENT CALENDAR
a. Approve Board Meeting Minutes – February 13, 2025
b. Approve Contract Award to Pacific Power Group, LLC for MV Peralta Main Engine Preventative Maintenance Services
7. APPROVE ACTIONS RELATIVE TO RFP 22-017, 400-PASSENGER REEF VESSEL
PROCUREMENT
Information
Information
Information
Action
Action
Exhibit 3
Water Emergency Transportation Authority
March 13, 2025 Meeting of the Board of Directors
8. MISSION BAY FERRY LANDING MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
9. AUTHORIZE THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO ENTER INTO A LEASE AT 375 BEALE
STREET AND RELATED ACTIONS
10. OAKLAND ALAMEDA WATER SHUTTLE PILOT PROJECT UPDATE
11. APRIL 2025 SCHEDULE CHANGE
12. UPDATED AND RESTATED SF BAY FERRY ADMINISTRATIVE CODE
13. PUBLIC COMMENTS FOR NON-AGENDA ITEMS
ADJOURNMENT
Action
Action
Information
Information
Information/
Action
All items appearing on the agenda are subject to action by the Board of Directors. Staff recommendations are subject to action and change by the Board of Directors.
PUBLIC COMMENTS WETA welcomes comments from the public.
If you know in advance that you would like to make a public comment during the meeting, please email [email protected] with your name and item number you would like to provide comment on no later than 15 minutes after the start of the meeting. Comments will also be accepted in real time. During the public comment period, speakers will be allotted no more than 3 minutes to speak and will be heard in the order of sign-up. Said time frames may be extended only upon approval of the Board of Directors.
Agenda Items: Speakers on individual agenda items will be called in order of sign-up after the discussion of each agenda item.
Non-Agenda Items: A 15-minute period of public comment for non-agenda items will be held at the end of the meeting. Please indicate on your speaker card that you wish to speak on a non-agenda item. No action can be taken on any matter raised during the public comment period.
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AGENDA ITEM 10
MEETING: March 13, 2025
MEMORANDUM
TO: Board Members
FROM: Michael Gougherty, Director of Planning
Thomas Hall, Director of Operations & Customer Experience Gabriel Chan, Transportation Planner
SUBJECT: Oakland Alameda Water Shuttle Pilot Project Update
Background
The Oakland Alameda Water Shuttle (OAWS) Pilot Service is a free temporary water shuttle service between Alameda Landing and Jack London Square in Oakland. The service operates five days a week, Wednesday through Sunday for 12 hours each day with an estimated annual operating cost of $1.5 to $2 million. Blue & Gold Fleet (BGF) crews operate and maintain the vessel with administrative support from agency staff and project partners including the City of Alameda , the Alameda Transportation Management Association (ATMA) and CIM Group, the property manager for Jack London Square. The service is funded primary through a grant from the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC) as well as in-kind contributions from both public and private sources. The pilot service launched on July 17, 2024 and is slated to operate for two years with the potential to grow over time. The service uses a vessel procured by the project partners with assistance from SF Bay Ferry and BGF staff. The vessel, Woodstock, is owned by ATMA.
Before the start of the service, SF Bay Ferry staff developed a set of performance metrics and evaluation criteria in coordination with the project partners to measure and track the success of the pilot service.
Following review and input from the SF Bay Ferry Pilot Service Subcommittee, staff presented the goals, objectives, and evaluation metrics to the Board of Directors in July 2024 and committed to collecting data in the following areas:
- Ridership
- Operations
- Finance
- Customer Experience
- Economic Impact and Sentiment
- Environment
- Equity
- Partnership and Coordination
With SF Bay Ferry’s operational database, staff can track some of these metrics in real time. Following the end of calendar year 2024, staff have developed a 6-month progress report that includes ridership, operations, and some qualitative customer experience data for the OAWS. This report covers data and SF Bay Ferry feedback received through December 31, 2024. Data regarding other metrics will be compiled and assessed as additional information becomes available during further implementation and completion of this pilot project.
Discussion
Initial results from the first six months of service are promising. Between July and December 2024, the Oakland Alameda Water Shuttle provided 51,447 total trips with 10,525 of those travelling with bikes.
The first week of service saw the highest ridership with numbers decreasing as the year progressed— consistent with seasonal trends on other ferry routes. Overall, ridership is highest on midday weekend runs thus far. Weekday ridership typically peaks in the afternoon and evening commute period.
San Francisco Bay Ferry March 13, 2025
Oakland Alameda Water Shuttle Pilot Project Update Page 2
In terms of operations, the service has been generally reliable. Initially, the pilot service offered 187 runs per week. This increased to 237 per week with only a marginal increase in fueling cost. This was facilitated by a coordinated effort to optimize the schedule between SF Bay Ferry staff, the project partners, and BGF in response to rider feedback and operational experience gained in the early months of service. Apart from 46 cancelled runs in the first week of service due to damage to the vessel, most other cancellations were due to weather impacts. Out of about 4,800 scheduled runs, the water shuttle completed 95% of its scheduled runs. This is on par with the high reliability statistics of the SF Bay Ferry system which typically registers between 95% and 99.9% reliability.
Following an encouraging first six months, staff will continue to collect and monitor the ridership and reliability data of the water shuttle service with regular progress reports. Additionally, the project partners plan to conduct rider and non -rider surveys and solicit feedback from nearby businesses . This information will be included in the comprehensive evaluation report at the conclusion of the pilot. SF Bay Ferry has received relatively few comments from the public regarding the service, as riders have been encouraged to submit feedback directly to the City of Alameda.
A full summary of data collected and analyzed through December 31, 2024 is available in Appendix A.
Fiscal Impact
There is no fiscal impact associated with this informational item.
San Francisco Bay Ferry March 13, 2025
Oakland Alameda Water Shuttle Pilot Project Update Page 3
Appendix A. OAWS 6-Month Summary of Data through December 31, 2024 1) Ridership
a. 51,447 total OAWS boardings July 17, 2024 – December 31, 2024. b. 10,525 total OAWS bike boardings July 17, 2024 – December 31, 2024. c. Week 1 had the highest average daily ridership: 677 pax. d. Weeks in December had the lowest average daily ridership: ~250-290 pax. e. Rain and inclement weather has an outsized negative impact on ridership, even when there are no service disruptions and ridership on SF Bay Ferry’s transbay routes remains stable.
f. Summer months showed the strongest ridership with the largest declines in December.
This is consistent with the observed trends on all other SF Bay Ferry routes.
Figure 1. Total Ridership by Week.
g. Bikes make up on average ~20% of total ridership with some weeks going as high as 25%. This is at or above the proportion of bike riders on other SF Bay Ferry routes.
San Francisco Bay Ferry March 13, 2025
Oakland Alameda Water Shuttle Pilot Project Update Page 4
Figure 2. Total Bike Ridership by Week.
h. The highest average ridership per run occurs on departures between 12pm and 5pm.
Figure 3. Average Riders per Run by Hour (Oakland-bound).
3.4 4.2 5.3
13.8 15.5 14.3 15.7
12.9 14.2
16.4 17.9
11.3 6.8
3.4 0.0
2.0 4.0
6.0 8.0
10.0 12.0
14.0 16.0
18.0 20.0
7 AM 8 AM 9 AM 10 AM 11 AM 12 PM 1 PM 2 PM 3 PM 4 PM 5 PM 6 PM 7 PM 8 PM OAS
NUMBER OF PASSENGERS
SCHEDULED DEPARTURE TIME
Average Riders per Run by Hour (Oakland-bound)
Total
San Francisco Bay Ferry March 13, 2025
Oakland Alameda Water Shuttle Pilot Project Update Page 5
Figure 4. Average Riders per Run by Hour (Alameda-bound).
i. Most popular days of the week are Sunday, followed by Saturday and Friday.
Figure 5. Average Passengers On Board by Day of Week.
2) Operations and Reliability
a. The service operates with one vessel and no back-ups. No other vessels in the SF Bay Ferry fleet are able to land at either dock used for the OAWS. b. Initially, 187 runs were scheduled per week. Service increased to 239 runs scheduled per week in November after for schedule optimization.
c. In July, a rough landing required maintenance and repair work for the vessel that resulted in service being suspended for 1.5 days. Most other cancellations were due to weather impacts.
3.1 3.6 4.1
9.5 11.2
14.2 14.9
17.6 14.1 13.4 14.7
11.8 12.4
6.0 0.0
2.0 4.0
6.0 8.0
10.0 12.0
14.0 16.0
18.0 20.0
7 AM 8 AM 9 AM 10 AM 11 AM 12 PM 1 PM 2 PM 3 PM 4 PM 5 PM 6 PM 7 PM 8 PM OAS
NUMBER OF PASSENGERS
SCHEDULED DEPARTURE TIME
Average Riders per Run by Hour (Alameda-bound)
Total
15.0 8.7
7.3 10.5
13.3 O A S O A S O A S O A S O A S
S U N D A Y W E D N E S D A Y T H U R S D A Y F R I D A Y S A T U R D A Y
NUMBER OF PASSENGERS
DAY OF WEEK
AVG. PAX ON BOARD BY DAY OF WK
Total
San Francisco Bay Ferry March 13, 2025
Oakland Alameda Water Shuttle Pilot Project Update Page 6
Figure 6. Cancelled Runs by Week.
3) Public Feedback
As noted, SF Bay Ferry has received relatively few comments from the public regarding the service, as riders have been encouraged to submit feedback directly to the City of Alameda. Of the 8 comments received by SF Bay Ferry, most were asking for better adherence to schedules or more service. Two commenters took issue with the infrastructure/amenities of the service (ramps and shade). Two commenters included words of praise for the new water shuttle service in their feedback as well.