Council Water Transit Advocacy Makes Waves; WETA Opens New Facility

The Bay Area Council’s advocacy efforts to rapidly expand our region’s water transit system are paying off. This week the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) opened a new North Bay Operations and Maintenance Facility on Vallejo’s Mare Island, signifying the rapid growth of its ferry operations. The facility will provide operations dispatch and routine vessel maintenance for its current fleet, as well as WETA’s seven new boats that are expected to come online in the next few years. The accelerated development of new boats will add significant capacity to the system, both providing commuters with a new transportation option and enhancing the agency’s emergency response capability.

This new facility comes just a month after WETA announced the groundbreaking of the Ron Cowan Central Bay Operations and Maintenance Facility in Alameda, marking a key milestone in advancing the agency’s new bold vision for expanding regional commuter ferry service as laid out in its new Strategic Plan. The Bay Area Council has been working hard to support the expansion of the public ferry system to provide commuters with a comfortable and convenient alternative to our region’s severely congested highways and transit systems. The Council was also instrumental in securing the CPUC approval of two private operators last month, which are set to begin service to new locations such as Berkeley, Emeryville, and Redwood City as early as the next few months.

Watch the exciting KTVU news segment on WETA’s growing operations>>

To engage in the Council’s water transit policy work, please contact Policy Manager Emily Loper.