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Main Street ferry terminal in Alameda closed for remainder of year
The Main Street ferry terminal in Alameda is closed on Monday and will remain closed for the rest of the year.
ALAMEDA, Calif. - The Main Street ferry terminal in Alameda is closed on Monday and will remain closed for the rest of the year.
The ferry won't stop at the Main Street terminal for the next two months because it will be under construction, involving repairing and replacing the old terminal infrastructure. Officials said the terminal will be updated to be better equipped for earthquakes and be ready for electrification of the ferries in the future.
"We don’t have the electric boats to be able to run it in 2024 quite yet, but just getting the terminal further down the road so we can decarbonize our ferry system and do our part to minimize the impacts of climate change in the Bay Area is really huge," said Thomas Hall, spokesperson for the San Francisco Bay Ferry.
The Main Street closure could make for a big change for some riders who usually use that terminal to go to San Francisco, South San Francisco or Oakland.
If they're headed to downtown San Francisco, they can get there from the Alameda Seaplane Lagoon Terminal instead, which isn't too far away. But if riders need to go to South San Francisco they will need to leave from the Oakland Terminal. And getting there from Alameda can be a bit of a hassle.
The Alameda short hop is also suspended so to get to Oakland from Main Street Alameda commuters will need to take AC Transit or drive; there are no shuttles.
Commuters taking the ferry to South San Francisco can get free Uber rides from Alameda to the Oakland terminal and back as long as they fill out a form. The San Francisco Bay Ferry spokesperson said about 30 of the 50 people who usually take that route have signed up to use that amenity.
"Most of the people have to ride bikes because there’s no connection anywhere on the other end so that solution doesn’t really help me," said Ander Nottrott.
Instead, Nottrott left from the Seaplane Lagoon Terminal, which ended up doubling his commute.
"This is my first day so we’ll see, but it’s a pretty big impact to the commute. Normally it takes me about an hour to get to work, now it’s going to be closer to two, and I have to take multiple transit systems," said Nottrott.
For more information on changes to the ferry system, click here.