Ferry service returns to Berkeley Marina

Friday, January 27, 2017
BERKELEY, Calif. (KGO) -- For the first time in more than 10 years, the Berkeley Marina began ferry service into San Francisco on Friday.

The pilot program was launched by "Tideline", a private company based out of San Francisco and New York.

The vessel used on Friday's maiden voyage only holds up to 40 passengers, larger ferries can hold up to 400 passengers.

The ride to Pier 1.5 takes about 25 minutes and then takes passengers back in the evening.

"There's no other ferry service here. And it's unbelievably close to take a ferry from here right into downtown San Francisco," said Dan Krokosky, the Director of Maritime Operations at Tideline.

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Passengers on the maiden voyage say they're excited about the new option, but there were some bumps on the ride.

"It's not as smooth as like the big ferries. But it still gets 15 knots. So it's just as fast. It's just a little rougher on the waves a bit," said Matt Smith, who took the first trip into the city Friday morning. "I work in the city. I work at Embarcadero Center, and BART is a cattle car," added Smith.

Terry Chen agrees that the ferry option is much better than gridlock traffic.

"I work in the city and normally I drive, but traffic has been really bad recently. So I'm looking for alternative ways to commute, and this is a lot less stressful."

For the time being the public commuter service from the Berkeley Marina is on Friday's only.

There will be two trips in the morning and two trips returning in the evening. It cost $8 each way.
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