San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun Bay estuaries in the northern part of the U. S. state of California. Although the exact boundaries of the region vary depending on the source, the Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Governments to include the nine counties that border the aforementioned estuaries: Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and San Francisco. Other sources may exclude parts of or entire counties, or expand the definition to include neighboring counties that don't border the bay such as San Benito, San Joaquin, Santa Cruz. Home to 7.68 million people, Northern California's nine-county Bay Area contains many cities, towns and associated regional and national parks, connected by a complex multimodal transportation network. The larger combined statistical area of the region, which includes twelve counties, is the second-largest in California, the fifth-largest in the United States, the 41st-largest urban area in the world with 8.75 million people.
The Bay Area's population is ethnically diverse: for example half of the region's residents are Hispanic, African American, or Pacific Islander, all of whom have a significant presence throughout the region. The earliest archaeological evidence of human settlements in the Bay Area dates back to 3000 BC. In 1769, the Bay Area was inhabited by the Ohlone people when a Spanish exploration party led by Gaspar de Portolà entered the Bay – the first documented European visit to the Bay Area. After Mexico established independence from Spain in 1821, the region was controlled by the Mexican government until the United States purchased the territory in 1846 during the Mexican–American War. Soon after, discovery of gold in California attracted a flood of treasure seekers, many using ports in the Bay Area as an entry point. During the early years of California's statehood, state legislative business rotated between three locations in the Bay Area before a permanent state capital was established in Sacramento.
A major earthquake leveled the city of San Francisco and environs in 1906, but the region rebuilt in time to host the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. During World War II, the Bay Area played a major role in America's war effort in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, with San Francisco's Fort Mason acting as a primary embarkation point for American forces. In 1945, the United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco, establishing the United Nations, in 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco ended the U. S.'s war with Japan. Since the Bay Area has experienced numerous political and artistic movements, developing unique local genres in music and art and establishing itself as a hotbed of progressive politics. Economically, the post-war Bay Area saw huge growth in the financial and technology industries, creating a vibrant and diverse economy with a gross domestic product of over $800 billion, home to the second highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the United States. Despite its urban character, the San Francisco Bay is one of California's most ecologically important habitats, providing key ecosystem services such as filtering pollutants and sediments from the rivers, supporting a number of endangered species.
The region is known for the complexity of its landforms, the result of millions of years of tectonic plate movements. Because the Bay Area is crossed by six major earthquake faults, the region is exposed to hazards presented by large earthquakes; the climate is temperate and very mild, is ideal for outdoor recreational and athletic activities such as hiking. The Bay Area is host to seven professional sports teams and is a cultural center for music and the arts, it is host to several institutions of higher education, ranging from primary schools to major research universities. Home to 101 municipalities and nine counties, governance in the Bay Area is multifaceted and involves numerous local and regional actors, each with wide-ranging and overlapping responsibilities; the borders of the San Francisco Bay Area are not delineated, the unique development patterns influenced by the region's topography, as well as unusual commute patterns caused by the presence of three central cities and employment centers located in various suburban locales, has led to considerable disagreement between local and federal definitions of the area.
Because of this, professor of geography at the University of California, Berkeley Richard Walker claimed that "no other U. S. city-region is as definitionally challenged."When the region began to develop during and after World War II, local planners settled on a nine-county definition for the Bay Area, consisting of the counties that directly border the San Francisco, San Pablo, Suisun estuaries: Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties. Today, this definition is accepted by most local governmental agencies including San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Association of Bay Area Governments, the latter two of which partner to deliver a Bay Area Census using the nine-county definition. Various U. S. Federal government agencies use definitions that differ from their local counterparts' nine-county definition.
For example, the Federal Communications Commission which regulates broadcast and satellite transmissions, includes nearby Colusa and Mendocino counties in their "San Francisco-Oaklan
Altamont Corridor Express
The Altamont Corridor Express is a commuter rail service in California, connecting Stockton and San Jose. ACE is named for the Altamont Pass. Service is managed by the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission, operations are contracted to Herzog Transit Services, using AAR assigned reporting mark HTSX; the 86-mile route includes ten stops, with 12 minutes end-to-end. The tracks are owned by Union Pacific Railroad. ACE uses Bombardier BiLevel Coaches and MPI F40PH-3C locomotives. Service began on October 1998, with two weekday round trips. A third round trip was added in May 2001, followed by a fourth round trip in October 2012; as of 2018, average weekday ridership is 5,900. Under the ACEforward program, a number of improvements to the service are being considered; these include a rerouted line through Tracy, an extension to Modesto and Merced, connections to BART at Union City and Tri-Valley. By the 1980s, three growing areas in California - Silicon Valley, the Tri-Valley, the middle part of the Central Valley - were poorly connected by public transit as Interstate 580 and Interstate 680 became more congested.
The three areas had connections to San Francisco and Oakland via Caltrain and the Amtrak San Joaquin, but commuting from the Central Valley and Tri-Valley to Silicon Valley required using a car or limited bus service. In 1989, the San Joaquin Council of Governments, Stockton Chamber of Commerce, the Building Industry Association of the Delta started work on a 20-year transportation plan for their section of the Central Valley. In November 1990, San Joaquin County voters passed Measure K, a half-cent sales tax to fund a variety of transportation improvements; the highest-priority project was the establishment of passenger rail service to San Jose. In 1995, San Joaquin County and seven cities along the route formed the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission to oversee the creation of the service. In May 1997, the Altamont Commuter Express Joint Powers Authority was formed by the SJRRC, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, Alameda Congestion Management Agency; that agreement formalized financial support, administrative processes, governance for the rail service.
The operation is funded by a variety of state and federal sources sales tax revenue collected by the three JPA signatories. Cost sharing for capital projects, excluding stations, during the initial 36 months of service was determined by the JPA on a case-by-case basis and approved by each of the member agencies; the initial purchase of rolling stock, construction of stations, other start-up costs, amounting to some $48 million, were covered by Measure K funds. Station improvements are the responsibility of the county. ACE pays the owner of the right of Union Pacific Railroad, about $1.5 million per year. Service began on October 19, 1998, with two daily round trips running to San Jose in the morning and Stockton in the evening; the original service used two trainsets, each with 4 bilevel coach cars, for a total seated capacity of 1120 passengers in each direction daily. In September 1999, the service reached 1000 daily riders per direction, resulting in many trains running at capacity. On February 21, 2000, a morning short turn between San Jose and Pleasanton was added using an existing trainset, giving Pleasanton and Fremont a third inbound train to alleviate the crowding on the two earlier trains.
The trip was added after ACE funded $3 million in track improvements to reduce conflicts with Union Pacific freight trains and Amtrak Capitol Corridor trains. By early 2001, ACE carried more than 700 daily standees. After additional equipment was bought, the "Turn-back Train" was replaced by a nearly-full-length trip originating at Lathrop-Manteca on March 5, 2001. Although the third train added 560 seats in each direction, it brought an immediate increase in 380 daily riders. ACE planned to add a fourth round trip in the year, with fifth and sixth round trips by 2006. However, by late 2001, the deepening dot-com recession was hurting ridership, expansion plans were put on hold. On June 30, 2003, the ACE JPA was dissolved in favor of a Cooperative Services Agreement between the three member agencies. On January 6, 2003, ACE introduced the Stockton Solution Shuttle, allowing Stockton passengers to use the ACE trip which terminated at Lathrop/Manteca; the trip was extended to Stockton on August 1, 2005.
At that time, service to Santa Clara was suspended to allow for the construction of a second platform and pedestrian tunnel at the station. At this time, three Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach trips connecting to the San Joaquin - one to San Jose and two to Stockton - were open to ACE riders. On August 28, 2006, ACE added a fourth round trip, which operated midday using one of the existing trainsets. On November 7, 2006, San Joaquin County voters approved a 20-year extension of Measure K. Suffering from reducing funding due to the Great Recession, ACE cut the lightly-used midday trip on November 2, 2009. In May 2012, ACE restored service to Santa Clara station. On October 1, 2012, a fourth rush-hour round trip was added, running one hour after existing trips. In December 2012, the service was rebranded from Altamont Commuter Express to Altamont Corridor Express to reflect plans for a broader scope of service. In March 2014, ACE opened a 121,000 square feet maintenance facility in Stockton. On July 1, 2015, m
Bay Area Rapid Transit
Bay Area Rapid Transit is a rapid transit public transportation system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. The heavy rail elevated and subway system connects San Francisco and Oakland with urban and suburban areas in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo counties. BART serves 48 stations along six routes on 112 miles of rapid transit lines, including a ten-mile spur line in eastern Contra Costa County which utilizes diesel multiple-unit trains and a 3.2-mile automated guideway transit line to the Oakland International Airport. With an average of 423,000 weekday passengers and 124.2 million annual passengers in fiscal year 2017, BART is the fifth-busiest heavy rail rapid transit system in the United States. BART is operated by the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, formed in 1957; the initial system opened in stages from 1972 to 1974. As of late 2019, it is being expanded to San Jose with the Silicon Valley BART extensions; some of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system's current coverage area was once served by an electrified streetcar and suburban train system called the Key System.
This early 20th-century system once had regular transbay traffic across the lower deck of the Bay Bridge, but the system was dismantled in the 1950s, with its last transbay crossing in 1958, was superseded by highway travel. A 1950s study of traffic problems in the Bay Area concluded the most cost-effective solution for the Bay Area's traffic woes would be to form a transit district charged with the construction and operation of a new, high-speed rapid transit system linking the cities and suburbs. Formal planning for BART began with the setting up in 1957 of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District, a county-based special-purpose district body that governs the BART system; the district began with five members, all of which were projected to receive BART lines: Alameda County, Contra Costa County, the City and County of San Francisco, San Mateo County, Marin County. Although invited to participate, Santa Clara County supervisors elected not to join BART due to their dissatisfaction that the peninsula line only stopped at Palo Alto and that it interfered with suburban development in San Jose, preferring instead to concentrate on constructing freeways and expressways.
In 1962, San Mateo County supervisors voted to leave BART, saying their voters would be paying taxes to carry Santa Clara County residents. The district-wide tax base was weakened by San Mateo's departure, forcing Marin County to withdraw a month later. Despite the fact that Marin had voted in favor of BART participation at the 88% level, its marginal tax base could not adequately absorb its share of BART's projected cost. Another important factor in Marin's withdrawal was an engineering controversy over the feasibility of running trains on the lower deck of the Golden Gate Bridge, an extension forecast as late as three decades after the rest of the BART system; the withdrawals of Marin and San Mateo resulted in a downsizing of the original system plans, which would have had lines as far south as Palo Alto and northward past San Rafael. Voters in the three remaining participating counties approved the truncated system, with termini in Fremont, Richmond and Daly City, in 1962. Construction of the system began in 1964, included a number of major engineering challenges, including excavating subway tunnels in San Francisco and Berkeley.
Passenger service began on September 11, 1972 just between MacArthur and Fremont. The rest of the system opened in stages, with the entire system opening in 1974 when the transbay service through the Transbay Tube began; the new BART system was hailed as a major step forward in subway technology, although questions were asked concerning the safety of the system and the huge expenditures necessary for the construction of the network. Ridership remained well below projected levels throughout the 1970s, direct service from Daly City to Richmond and Fremont was not phased in until several years after the system opened; some of the early safety concerns appeared to be well founded when the system experienced a number of train-control failures in its first few years of operation. As early as 1969, before revenue service began, several BART engineers identified safety problems with the Automatic Train Control system; the BART Board of Directors was retaliated by firing them. Less than a month after the system's opening, on October 2, 1972, an ATC failure caused a train to run off the end of the elevated track at the terminal Fremont station and crash to the ground, injuring four people.
The “Fremont Flyer” led to a comprehensive redesign of the train controls and resulted in multiple investigations being opened by the California State Senate, California Public Utilities Commission, National Transportation Safety Board. Hearings by the state legislature in 1974 into financial mismanagement at BART forced the General Manager to resign in May 1974, the entire Board of Directors was replaced the same year when the legislature passed legislation leading to the election of a new Board and the end of appointed members. Before the BART system opened, planners projected several possible extensions. Although Marin county was left out of the original sys
Gillig Low Floor
The Gillig Low Floor is a transit bus manufactured by the Gillig Corporation. The second low-floor bus introduced in the United States, the Low Floor has been produced since 1997. Produced alongside the Gillig Phantom as an expansion of the transit product range, the Low Floor has become the successor to the Phantom and the sole Gillig bus platform since 2008; the Gillig Low Floor was assembled in Hayward, prior to the 2017 relocation of Gillig Corporation to Livermore, California. The Gillig Low Floor began life in the mid-1990s as Gillig was approached by Hertz Corporation to develop a shuttle bus for its rental car parking lots at airports to replace its aging GMC RTS buses. Featuring a carpeted interior, luggage racks, a central entry door, the primary design requirement of Hertz was a low-floor entry for those carrying luggage or with limited mobility. In 1996, the first buses for Hertz entered production. Gillig would produce the H2000LF for Hertz through 2005, as the design was replaced by standard Gillig Low Floor buses.
In 1997, Gillig modified the H2000LF design for transit bus use, replacing the central entry with dual entry doors. Renamed the Gillig Low Floor, the low-floor bus was marketed alongside the step-entrance Gillig Phantom. During its production, the Low Floor has seen revisions to its body design. In 2002, the windshield was enlarged and the side windows were reduced in width. After 2003, the rear side split windows that were configured upside down were reconfigured to match the rest of the side windows. In 2008, the glass of both entry doors was enlarged. In 2008, a suburban configuration was identified externally by the lack of a rear entry door. In place of transit seating, the suburban configuration is equipped with forward-facing seating, internal luggage racks, onboard Wi-Fi, other passenger-related options. Of the two body configurations for low-floor buses, the Gillig Low Floor is a low-entry bus with a low-step entry and integrated manual wheelchair ramp while the rear part of the interior is raised to provide sufficient space for the powertrain.
The Gillig Low Floor is produced in three body lengths in its standard transit bus configuration: 29 ft, 35 ft, 40 ft. Maximum seating capacity is 28 passengers for the 29-foot length, 32 passengers for the 35-foot length, 40 passengers for the 40-foot length; the turning radius of the Gillig Low Floor is 29 ft, 36 ft, 43 ft. Currently, the Gillig Low Floor range is equipped with three engines: the Cummins ISB6.7 diesel, Cummins ISL diesel, Cummins ISL-G compressed natural gas inline-six engines. Throughout its production, the Gillig Low Floor has featured a range of Cummins engines along with Caterpillar and Detroit Diesel engines. Since 2004, the Gillig Low Floor has been available in a diesel-electric hybrid configuration with the Cummins ISB engine. Depending on variant, the Gillig Low Floor is produced with a range of Allison, ZF automatic transmissions. Gillig manufactures three models of buses based on the Low Floor chassis: the Low Floor BRT, the Low Floor BRTPlus, the Low Floor Trolley.
All have the same transmission options as the standard Low Floor. The Gillig BRT is a restyled version of the Low Floor with different rear fascias, it wears a more futuristic look than the standard model. It is available in the same lengths as the standard Low Floor model, although the front fascia adds an extra foot of length to the bus. Instead of sealed-beam headlights, the Gillig BRT has projector headlights; the layout for the headlights was changed in 2009. The Gillig BRT is available with Diesel and Diesel-Electric Hybrid drivetrains; the first of BRTs of this version went to LeeTran in Florida. The design of the BRT allows for some degree of customization by the purchaser; some BRTs have been ordered with the same rear end as the standard Low Floor model. Although the BRT can be ordered without the frameless side windows, most BRTs are equipped with them. A one-piece windshield is another popular option for the BRT; the Gillig BRTPlus is a variant of the BRT which features a streamlined fuel tank & A/C above the roof.
The Plus made its debut in 2011 with Long Beach Transit #1201, the first Compressed Natural Gas BRT produced. The BRTPlus is available with Diesel and Diesel-Electric Hybrid drivetrains; the Gillig Trolley is produced in collaboration with Cable Car Classics of California. It is available in 30 ft, 35 ft, 40 ft lengths; the vintage-style trolley appearance package exterior features include frameless bonded side windows, maintenance-free wood-like trim, ornate gold pinstriping, custom window and body graphic decals, roof cupola, functional solid brass bell, cow catcher, roof perimeter LED ropelights, front center brass trolley lamp. The interior has solid American white oak seats, optional seat cushions, leather hand straps, brass handrails, stop request pull ropes, wood trim, woodgrain wall panels and floor covering. In addition to conventional diesel, the Gillig Trolley is available with optional power trains, including Allison hybrid-electri
Compressed natural gas
Compressed natural gas is a fuel which can be used in place of gasoline, diesel fuel and propane/LPG. CNG combustion produces fewer undesirable gases than the aforementioned fuels. In comparison to other fuels, natural gas poses less of a threat in the event of a spill, because it is lighter than air and disperses when released. Biomethane – cleaned-up biogas from anaerobic digestion or landfills – can be used. CNG is made by compressing natural gas, to less than 1 percent of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure, it is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of 20–25 MPa in cylindrical or spherical shapes. CNG is used in traditional gasoline/internal combustion engine automobiles that have been modified or in vehicles which were manufactured for CNG use, either alone, with a segregated gasoline system to extend range or in conjunction with another fuel such as diesel. Natural gas vehicles are used in Iran Pakistan, the Asia-Pacific region, Indian capital of Delhi, other large cities like Ahmedabad, Pune, Kolkata—as well as cities such as Lucknow, Varanasi, etc.
Its use is increasing in South America and North America because of rising gasoline prices. In response to high fuel prices and environmental concerns, CNG is starting to be used in tuk-tuks and pickup trucks and school buses, trains; the cost and placement of fuel storage tanks is the major barrier to wider/quicker adoption of CNG as a fuel. It is why municipal government, public transportation vehicles were the most visible early adopters of it, as they can more amortize the money invested in the new fuel. In spite of these circumstances, the number of vehicles in the world using CNG has grown steadily. Now, as a result of the industry's steady growth, the cost of such fuel storage tanks has been brought down to a much more acceptable level. For the CNG Type 1 and Type 2 tanks, many countries are able to make reliable and cost effective tanks for conversion need. CNG's volumetric energy density is estimated to be 42 percent that of liquefied natural gas, 25 percent that of diesel fuel. Worldwide, there were 14.8 million natural gas vehicles by 2011, led by Iran with 2.86 million, Argentina and India.
With the Asia-Pacific region leading with 5.7 million NGVs, followed by Latin America with four million vehicles. Several manufacturers sell bi-fuel cars. In 2006, Fiat introduced the Siena Tetrafuel in the Brazilian market, equipped with a 1.4L FIRE engine that runs on E100, E25, Ethanol and CNG. Any existing gasoline vehicle can be converted to a dual-fuel vehicle. Authorized shops can do the retrofitting and involves installing a CNG cylinder, plumbing, a CNG injection system and the electronics; the cost of installing a CNG conversion kit can reach $8,000 on passenger cars and light trucks and is reserved for vehicles that travel many miles each year. CNG costs emits up to 90 % fewer emissions than gasoline. CNG locomotives are operated by several railroads; the Napa Valley Wine Train retrofit a diesel locomotive to run on compressed natural gas before 2002. This converted locomotive was upgraded to utilize a computer controlled fuel injection system in May 2008, is now the Napa Valley Wine Train's primary locomotive.
Ferrocarril Central Andino in Peru, has run a CNG locomotive on a freight line since 2005. CNG locomotives are diesel locomotives that have been converted to use compressed natural gas generators instead of diesel generators to generate the electricity that drives the traction motors; some CNG locomotives are able to fire their cylinders only when there is a demand for power, theoretically, gives them a higher fuel efficiency than conventional diesel engines. CNG is cheaper than petrol or diesel. Natural gas vehicle have lower maintenance costs than other hydrocarbon-fuel-powered vehicles. CNG fuel systems are sealed. Increased life of lubricating oils, as CNG does not dilute the crankcase oil. Being a gaseous fuel, CNG mixes and evenly in air. CNG is less to ignite on hot surfaces, since it has a high auto-ignition temperature, a narrow range of flammability. CNG-powered vehicles are considered to be safer than gasoline-powered vehicles. Less pollution and more efficiency: CNG emits less pollution directly than gasoline or oil when combusted.
For example, an engine running on petrol for 100 km emits 22 kilograms of CO2, while covering the same distance on CNG emits only 16.3 kilograms of CO2. Due to lower carbon dioxide emissions, switching to CNG can help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. However, natural gas leaks represent an increase in greenhouse gas emissions; the ability of CNG to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the entire fuel lifecycle will depend on the source of the natural gas and the fuel it is replacing. The lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions for CNG compressed from California's pipeline natural gas is given a value of 67.70 grams of CO2-equivalent per megajoule by CARB (the California Air Resource
San Francisco Bay Ferry
San Francisco Bay Ferry is a public transit passenger ferry service in the San Francisco Bay, administered by the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority. San Francisco Bay Ferry is a different system from Golden Gate Ferry, which provides passenger ferry service from San Francisco to Marin County. San Francisco Bay Ferry operates six commuter ferry routes: Alameda Harbor Bay: Weekday peak-hour-only service between the Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal on Bay Farm Island and the San Francisco Ferry Building Alameda/Oakland: All-day weekday and weekend service between Oakland Ferry Terminal in Oakland, Main Street Terminal in Alameda, the Ferry Building, with some service operated to Pier 41 in San Francisco Richmond: Weekday peak-hour service between Richmond Ferry Terminal in Richmond and the Ferry Building South San Francisco: Weekday peak-hour-only service between South San Francisco Ferry Terminal in South San Francisco, Main Street Terminal, Oakland Ferry Terminal South San Francisco–Harbor Bay: Weekday peak-hour-only service between South San Francisco Ferry Terminal and Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal Vallejo/Mare Island: All-day weekday and weekend service between Mare Island Ferry Terminal on Mare Island, Vallejo Ferry Terminal in Vallejo, the Ferry Building, with some service operated to Pier 41.
Additional special service is operated to China Basin Ferry Terminal adjacent to Oracle Park for all San Francisco Giants home games. These gameday services operate on the Oakland/Alameda routes. In the days and weeks following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, ferry service was hastily restored between San Francisco and the East Bay while the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge was closed for repairs; the popularity of the revived ferries and the need for a robust ferry system in the event that the region's roads and tunnels become impassable in an emergency led to the creation of the San Francisco Bay Ferry system. The San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority is a government entity created by the California state legislature in 2007 by Senate Bill 976; the organization was the San Francisco Bay Water Transit Authority, which the legislature established in 1999. Commuter service to Vallejo began in September 1986, it operated by Red & White Fleet without subsidy, though Vallejo funded the simultaneously-opened ferry terminal.
The company lost money on the commuter service. The passage of Regional Measure 1 the next month provided additional funding. After the 1989 earthquake, service was temporarily increased using three ferries rented from the Washington State Ferries system; the 1990 passage of Proposition 116 provided $10 million for the purchase of new vessels, with an additional $17 million from the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act. A new vessel and a new operator began operations on July 1, 1994. Two high-speed catamarans were put into service in May 1997 under a new Baylink brand; the MV Solano was added in 2004. WETA has assumed ferry service operated by the City of Alameda and Port of Oakland; the ferry lines operated under the Alameda/Oakland Alameda Harbor Bay Ferry names. Service to the city of South San Francisco began on 4 June 2012, which coincided with use of the new San Francisco Bay Ferry name. WETA assumed control of Baylink service on July 1, 2012. Ferry service from Vallejo to San Francisco dates back to 1986.
Half of the agency's operating funds come from Regional Measure 2, a $1 toll increase on Bay Area bridges approved in 2004, the other half comes from fares. Since 2011, the private Blue & Gold Fleet has been under contract to operate the ferries on behalf of WETA. On April 29, 2013, a third evening trip from South San Francisco to Oakland was added, as well as a midday leisure-oriented round trip on Wednesdays and Fridays between South San Francisco and Pier 41 via the Ferry Building. San Francisco service was expanded to Monday through Friday on November 3, 2014, with the Pier 41 segment dropped; the single reverse commute trip on the South San Francisco–Oakland/Alameda route was dropped on May 4, 2015, leaving only three peak-direction round trips. South San Francisco–Ferry Building service ended on July 2, 2018. Seasonal direct service between Oakland/Alameda and Angel Island ended on October 26, 2014. On January 2, 2017, WETA increased weekday Vallejo service to 14 southbound and 13 northbound trips, with route 200 bus service discontinued.
SolTrans began operating a single northbound route 82 bus trip via the Ferry Building in the late evening, intended for passengers who miss the last ferry to Vallejo. On March 6, 2017, service to Mare Island began as a short extension of Vallejo service. Seven weekday round trips and four weekend round trips were extended to Mare Island. Weekday commuter service from a remodeled Richmond Ferry Terminal, in Richmond's Marina Bay District, to San Francisco was approved for funding and planning in 2015 to become operational by 2018. Service commenced on January 2019 with commute and limited reverse commute services. On January 7, 2019, WETA began a three-month pilot of weekday peak-hour service between South San Francisco and Harbor Bay; the single round trip runs to South San Francisco in the evening. The pilot program allowed the addition of a morning Harbor Bay-to-San Francisco trip. WETA plans to establish new service from Redwood City to San Francisco, its lo
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United States
