Free water taxi between Oakland's Jack London Square, Alameda launches
When the bright yellow water shuttle approached the dock near Jack London Square in Oakland on Wednesday morning, there were a few groans from the crowd onshore.
They had expected to be the first riders on the new ferry service between Oakland and Alameda. But when the boat arrived, it was already brimming with passengers from Alameda—an "off-the-books" journey for people who had brought the project to fruition, as one Alameda official put it.
"That was less than 10 minutes. We might have been speeding!" said Alameda Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft as she deboarded.
While the Oakland passengers were no longer the ferry's first ones, it hardly seemed to matter once the crowd was on the water for the roughly six-minute voyage.
"Is it required that you get off?" joked Cat Frazier, the first passenger in the Oakland line, once the ferry reached Alameda.
Oakland and Alameda are just 826 feet apart along the shuttle route, according to Brian McGuire, a city planner for Alameda. But it can feel much longer for pedestrians and bicyclists who, before Wednesday, had to choose between the narrow Posey Tube or a bridge that adds several miles to the trip.
Wednesday marked the first day of the free shuttle's two-year pilot, which hopes to assess demand for an alternative route across the Oakland Estuary. The boat, affectionately named Woodstock, runs Wednesday through Sunday and can hold up to 31 passengers and 14 bicycles.
Between camera crews, public transit enthusiasts and local officials, the vessel was at capacity Wednesday morning.
"The main thing is that we have to get people out of their cars," Ezzy Ashcraft said.
The yellow shuttle drew a few comparisons to a school bus from passengers. And, like a school bus, passengers expected it to shepherd them on important trips. For Frazier, who said she lives three blocks from Jack London Square, the closest grocery stores are in Alameda.
She typically takes the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit O-line bus to go shopping for food, but the bus only runs twice an hour on weekdays. Missing it means adding a lot of time and steps to her shopping trip, Frazier said.
"I just have to plan my entire day around those trips," she said.
By contrast, Safeway and Target stores are a short walk from the Alameda water shuttle dock—and one passenger demonstrated that proximity Wednesday morning after taking the first boat to Alameda.
Just before the boat departed back across the estuary 15 minutes later, the passenger walked briskly down the dock, a plastic Target bag in hand.
"The luxurious deodorant run!" joked McGuire, the Alameda city planner, from above the dock.
Finding a way to facilitate these types of trips has been a 20-year project for McGuire and the other Alameda officials who spearheaded the water shuttle.
Alameda had a previous ferry across the estuary for several years in the early 2000s. But when it ceased service, it left just the Posey Tube, with its narrow bike lanes and exhaust fumes, as the only route to access the northern half of Alameda for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Since then, local officials and transit advocates have searched for an alternate route across the estuary.
The city commissioned a study in 2009 that weighed 17 options for traversing the waterway. For the long term, the study recommended a bridge. But until one could be built, a water shuttle was the best option, it said.
It wasn't until about two years ago that the private sector started to believe in the project, said Rochelle Wheeler, a senior transportation coordinator with Alameda. Wheeler said that organizations of Alameda businesses and residents gave $1.7 million to the pilot project to match a $1 million grant from the Alameda County Transportation Commission.
McGuire, the city planner, skipped the off-the-books trip on Wednesday morning, but he said he was on the test ride in Buffalo, New York, when Alameda found its bright yellow boat. City staff named the boat Woodstock, a nod to both the cartoon Peanuts character and one of the three original neighborhoods in Alameda, according to Sarah Henry, a city of Alameda spokesperson.
The boat underwent a few renovations before it could enter service. It was stripped of its seats to make room for wheelchairs, Wheeler said. The city also removed a black-and-white checkered pattern that McGuire suspected came from the boat's past life as a water taxi in Tampa Bay, Florida.
"We wanted to convey a public service, not a for-hire thing," McGuire said.
While a bike and pedestrian bridge is the ideal long-term solution, the shuttle will help assess demand for an alternative route across the Oakland Estuary, Wheeler said.
Other than commuting for work or shopping, many other passengers on Wednesday were taking the shuttle just for fun. One bicyclist, Alex Carrozza, took a "joyride" roundtrip aboard the shuttle.
"It's great that the city is giving us this for free," Carrozza said. "It's a big win."
Ramzy Bejjani, one of the first riders in line, biked from his home in Alameda to Oakland to catch the ferry's maiden voyage at 7 a.m. Wednesday. On the way, he picked up a box of donuts and passed them out to passengers waiting for a ride.
As the boat pulled up to the dock, Bejjani immediately remarked on the color of the bright yellow boat, which stood out against Wednesday morning's gray, overcast sky.
"Keep it iconic," he said, smiling.
