Main Street Ferry Terminal getting more parking, no buses

Ferry commuters driving to the Main Street Ferry Terminal will find a new parking lot option this fall, pending timely work plan approvals by the city.

Since 2013, passenger boardings have increased by over 50 percent at the Main Street ferry terminal, far exceeding the capacity of the parking lot. Commuters have been filling up an adjacent unpaved parcel next to the dog park, as well as the shoulders of Main Street.

The Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) initiated a ferry terminal access study for the Main Street and Harbor Bay terminals in 2014. They have been discussing access improvements with city staff, the Transportation Commission, and the community.

As a result of the dialogue, the city has offered the use of the nearby O’ Club parking lot, across the street from the terminal, to WETA through a license agreement. The lot is currently used to park city vehicles.

At its June 4 meeting, the WETA board of directors approved spending $250,000 to make improvements, in exchange for free use of the lot. WETA will resurface and stripe the lot, construct ADA-compliant walkways that lead to a new crosswalk that WETA will also construct across Main Street.

The crosswalk will connect with an existing paved pathway on the western end of the main parking lot. An existing vehicle entryway on Main Street will become the entrance to the O Club lot.

“In terms of the mid-term improvements at Main Street, the city has let us know that the dog park cannot be converted to parking until a replacement at Estuary Park is open,” said Kevin Connolly, WETA’s manager of Planning & Development. The new home for the dog park at Estuary Park on Mosley Avenue between Singleton Avenue and Alameda Landing is tied to the availability of funds for the second phase of the park. Those funds will be secured through a combination of developer fees and grants.

The first phase, four acres of sports fields, is expected to begin in 2016. The four acres of the second phase is designed as a community park space with restrooms, playgrounds, picnic areas, basketball courts, open lawn, and a dog park with sections for big dogs and small dogs.  

WETA was working with AC Transit to re-introduce bus service to the terminal. However, Connolly said that AC Transit recently scuttled plans for a Line 50 that would have carried passengers in a loop around the Island City to the Main Street ferry terminal. The city learned of this last Wednesday. In explaining its decision, AC Transit told Connolly that when it ran buses to the ferry terminal in 2009 “nobody rode them.”

Connolly points out that in 2009 the ferry carried 350 passengers a day with hourly departures. Today the ferry provides service to some 1,800 passengers with departures every 30 minutes. AC Transit also told Connolly that the bus service was not feasible because WETA does not charge for parking. Connolly questioned that criterion, pointing out that South Shore Center and other shopping malls do not charge for parking and AC Transit serves South Shore Center and these other malls.

“WETA is disappointed that AC Transit cannot see that demand warrants local bus service at the Main Street Terminal,” Connolly said. He added that AC Transit’s proposal would have offered ferry riders more choice in how they get to the terminal.

With parking relief in the pipeline, WETA plans to focus on more non-auto options for getting riders to and from the ferry terminal. “The implementation of an overflow parking lot, in addition to future improvements for pedestrian, bicycle, and transit access are vitally important in terms of WETA’s ability to continue accommodating future ridership demand at the Main Street ferry terminal,” said Nina Rannells, WETA’s executive director, in a June 4, 2015 staff report.

Originally published in the Alameda Sun.

Additional notes:

Measure BB: Voters approved Alameda County Transportation Commission’s Sales Tax, Measure BB on November 4, 2014. It’s priorities are to expand mass transit, improve highway infrastructure, improve local streets and roads, improve bicycle and pedestrian safety, and expand special transportation for seniors and people with disabilities.

Line 50 added, then removed: Line 50 was added in AC Transit’s March 2015 draft alignment plan. At the July 8 meeting of the City of Alameda – AC Transit Liaison Committee, AC Transit announced that is was removing the line. If brought into service, Line 50-Encinal would run between the Fruitvale BART Station and the Alameda Main Street Ferry Terminal every 20 to 30 minutes between 6 am and 10 pm. The route, subject to city approval, would enter Alameda via the Fruitvale Bridge and turn from Tilden Way onto Fernside Blvd. It will continue down Fernside Boulevard, right on High Street, right on Encinal Avenue, into Central Avenue, right on Webster Street, left on Appezzato Memorial Parkway, and right on Main Street to the terminal.  

Line 50 service to schools:  Line 50 would provide bus service to these schools along the route:  Alameda Community Learning Center on 3rd Street at Appezzato Memorial Parkway; Academy of Alameda Middle School on Pacific Avenue on 4th Street; College of Alameda on Appezzato Memorial Parkway at Webster Street; Encinal High School on Central Avenue at 3rd Street.

WETA 2009 Transition Plan: In 2007, WETA was created by passage of SB 976 as the successor to the Water Transit Authority. In June of 2009, WETA issued its transition plan in conjunction with the cities of Alameda and Vallejo, and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. The 2009 plan anticipated closing down the Main Street Ferry Terminal once a new ferry terminal is built nearby in the Seaplane Lagoon at Alameda Point.  2009 Transition Plan

Due to a surge in ridership, current plans assume that the Main Street Ferry Terminal will continue to operate after the Seaplane Lagoon Terminal is constructed. The recently approved development agreement for Site A, adjacent to the Seaplane Lagoon, includes a $10 million commitment from the developer toward the new terminal. WETA has yet to complete its feasibility study for the new terminal.

Alameda Point vs. Main Street: Alameda Point development will attempt to discourage automobile usage. Residents will be able to walk to the Seaplane Lagoon ferry terminal. Shuttles will offer rides from Alameda Point to Oakland BART stations. AC Transit is expected to operate a rapid transit bus from Alameda Point through the Tube into Oakland. Meanwhile, at the Main Street ferry terminal a mile away, AC Transit will provide no assistance in discouraging automobile usage.