Richmond Ferry Terminal

Richmond Ferry Terminal (historically Ellis Landing) is a former ferry terminal located in the Marina Bay neighborhood of Richmond, California.

Specifically, the terminal is located at Ford Point on the Richmond Inner Harbor which opens onto the East Bay of San Francisco Bay. Ford Point derives its name from the historic Ford Plant that is located nearby which is now being converted to an industrial park.

The terminal is planned to be reactivated sometime in the future.

Previous ferry service

The terminal hosted a commuter ferry service to the Ferry Building in San Francisco on weekdays and Fisherman's Wharf on weekends in addition to special Giant's Ballpark service during the baseball season. The voyage took approximately 45 minutes one-way. The service began in 1999, but was discontinued in the late 2000s in the economic downturn following the dot-com bust. Ferry ridership plummeted and the service became economically unsustainable, which led Red and White Fleet to discontinue the service. In fact the average ridership was 45 per trip and about 200 were needed for fiscal sustainability. [http://www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyherald/localnews/ci_9843406 Richmond hoping ferry service can be revived] , by Katherine Tam, "West County Times", July 10, 2008, access date July 13, 2008]

The terminal had its own dedicated AC Transit feeder service from Point Richmond and downtown Richmond with route 374 also now discontinued. [ [http://www.mtc.ca.gov/news/transactions/ta09-1099/richmond_ferry.htm New Ferry to Serve Interstate 80 Commuters] , "Metropolitan Transportation Commission", September 1999, retrieved August 1, 2007] [ [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/09/27/MN62955.DTL Richmond Ferry to Sail] , "San Francisco Chronicle", by Michael Cabanatuan, September 27, 1999, retrieved August 1, 2007] [ [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/10/06/MN66248.DTL Richmond Ferry Wins Praise But Few Riders] , "San Francisco Chronicle" by Benjamin Pimentel, October 6, 1999, retrieved August 1, 2007]

Planned ferry service

A new ferry service from Richmond is planned to be reactivated in 2008 by the San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority. This ferry service will provide 30 minute trips to San Francisco and will use the existing terminal and parking facilities at Ford Point. [ [http://www.watertransit.org/richmond_overview.shtml A New Commute Option for Richmond] , "San Francisco Bay Water Transit Authority", retrieved August 1, 2007 San Francisco Bay Water Transit Authority]

Recently most of the Richmond City Council except Tom Butt and Mayor Gayle McLaughlin have lost interest in the project, instead supporting using the site for expanded Toyota vehicle importation parking which that company has expressed an interest in. [ [http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/article.cfm?archiveDate=06-03-05&storyID=21524 Ferry Terminal Site Decision Nears; Richmond Bid Stalls] , "Berkeley Daily Planet", by Richard Brenneman, retrieved August 1, 2007]

The impetus for the reinstated ferry service continued in 2008 when the powers behind planning the project determined that there needed to be 750 "rooftops" within a half mile of the terminal site to generate significant and sustainable ridership figures. Senator Don Perata has secured 2 million dollars in monies from California State Proposition 1B for studies of several ferry proposals including new Richmond-San Francisco service; the Richmond study is planned to commence in the summer of 2008.

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