Golden Gate Ferry

Golden Gate Ferry

Locale	San Francisco Bay Area
Waterway	San Francisco Bay (North Bay)
Transit type	Passenger ferry
Operator	Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District
Began operation	August 15, 1970
No. of lines	2
No. of vessels	See below
No. of terminals	3
Daily ridership	1.87 million yearly (FY 2006)
Owner	Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District

Golden Gate Ferry is one of three transportation systems owned and operated by the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District. The other two are the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Transit bus service, which connects San Francisco to Marin County. Funding for the ferry services is partially subsidized by bridge tolls, in addition to the traditional federal and state sources.

Cities Served

Golden Gate Ferry serves Larkspur and Sausalito, California in Marin County and the San Francisco Ferry Building, providing fast ferry service.

Types of Ferry Service

Golden Gate Ferry offers regular passenger ferry service, with limited weekend service between Marin County and San Francisco. It also provides special ferry service for events like select home games of San Francisco Giants baseball, the annual Bay to Breakers, and day after Thanksgiving (originating from Larkspur only).

Days of Operation and Number of Trips

Golden Gate Ferry operates daily including limited holiday service. GGF does not operate on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day.

The following table presents a summary of the number of ferry trips provided by Golden Gate Ferry:

Origin	Number of trips and Schedules												Notes
	Weekdays to San Francisco			Weekdays from San Francisco			Weekends/Holidays to San Francisco			Weekends/Holidays from San Francisco
	Number of trips	Depart first ferry	Depart last ferry	Number of trips	Depart first ferry	Depart last ferry	Number of trips	Depart first ferry	Depart last ferry	Number of trips	Depart first ferry	Depart last ferry
Larkspur	20	5:50am	8:50pm	21	6:25am	9:35pm	5	9:40am	5:30pm†	4	12:40pm	7:15pm	An Expanded Holiday Schedule operates on the Day after Thanksgiving and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Sausalito	9	7:10am	7:20pm	9	7:40am	7:55pm	6	11:20am	6:30pm	6	10:40am	6:30pm

Note: † - last trip serves via Sausalito

Buses also run to and from the ports.

To/From Larkspur (at E. Sir Francis Drake Blvd.):

• Two commute buses leave for the San Francisco Financial District:
  • Route 24 at 4:51am arriving in San Francisco at 5:25am
  • Route 97 at 5:22am arriving in San Francisco at 5:58am
• Route 29, operated by Marin Transit, provides local service (but stopping at Larkspur Landing, not at the terminal itself) for ferry passengers to and from San Rafael, Larkspur, Greenbrae, Kentfield, and San Anselmo. This route, however, does not operate on Sundays or holidays.
• Marin Transit's Shuttle Route 221 serves the Larkspur Ferry Terminal during weekday peak periods only, with one trip mornings and two trips afternoons to serve ferry passengers heading to and coming from Larkspur, Corte Madera, Greenbrae, and Marin General Hospital.
• For late night, Sunday, or holiday service to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal, passengers can use Routes 17, 70, 71, or 80, with the nearest bus stop being at the Lucky Drive Bus Pad (at Highway 101).

To/From Sausalito:

• Several bus routes pass by or close by the ferry terminal (Bay and Humboldt), including:
  • 3 basic routes (Route 10 all day, Routes 70 and 80 late night, one Route 80 weekend early morning)
  • 3 commute routes (Route 2, select morning and evening Route 4, Route 92)
  • 1 local route (Route 22)

• West Marin Stagecoach Route 61 (South Route) provides service to and from the ferry terminal on weekends and holidays, connecting it to Marin City, Mill Valley, Stinson Beach, and Bolinas.
• Route 66, the Muir Woods Shuttle, serves the Sausalito Ferry and Marin City that connects ferry passengers from San Francisco to the famed Muir Woods in western Marin, and this route operates from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend.

Fares and Transfers

Golden Gate Ferry provides different fares, depending on origin or destination in Marin County and method of payment.

Fare Category (one-way)	Origin/Destination	Cash Fare	Discounted Fare (Clipper card)
Adult	Larkspur	US$8.75	US$5.70
	Sausalito	US$9.25	US$4.85
Youth (6-18), Seniors (65+), Disabled (), or Medicare	Larkspur or Sausalito	US$4.25	Not offered
Children under 5 years old (limit 2 per full-fare adult)	All ferry routes	Free	Free
SF Giants Ferry	Larkspur	$8.75	Not offered

Transfer details for Golden Gate Ferry are as follows:

• From Bus (Golden Gate Transit) to Ferry: Pay full transbay (cross bay) ferry fare (see ferry fare table above; more details here) in farebox when boarding the bus, and the bus operator will issue a transbay transfer. If paying with a Translink (now Clipper) card, customers must tag off when getting off the bus, then riders must tag on upon entering the ferry gate to receive the appropriate discount.
• From Ferry to Bus: Transfers are not issued if paying in cash: customers must pay their ferry fare when entering the ferry terminal and then their bus fare when boarding a bus. If using a Clipper card, customers must tag on upon entering the ferry gate, then tag on upon boarding a bus, and tag off when getting off the bus to get the appropriate discounted fare.
• Ferry to SF MUNI: Adult Translink customers transferring from Golden Gate Ferry to Muni will receive a $0.50 ($0.25 youth/senior/disabled) credit on their Muni Translink fare (excludes Muni Period Passes). Cash-paying passengers will not receive any transfer credits or discounts for continuing travel on Muni.
• SF MUNI to Ferry: Translink customers transferring from Muni to Golden Gate Ferry will receive a $0.50 credit on their Golden Gate Translink fare (includes adult, youth, senior, and disabled). Cash-paying passengers will not receive any transfer credits or discounts for continuing travel on GGF.

Fleet

The Golden Gate Ferries', Sonoma crossing the bay.

Golden Gate Ferry has 3 Nickum & Spaulding monohulls and 2 catamarans in service today. The Spauldings are named M.S. Marin, M.S. Sonoma, and M.S. San Francisco, and carry 715 passengers each. They were purchased from Philip F. Spaulding & Associates in San Diego, California in 1976-1977. Originally powered by gas turbine water jets, they were converted to diesel engine propeller drives in 1983-1985, with more efficient engines installed in 2001-2002.

The catamarans are M.V. Del Norte (purchased 1998, 390 passengers) and M.V. Mendocino (purchased 2001, 450 passengers). All of the ferries are wheelchair-accessible () and can store a limited number of bicycles on board. On-board refreshments are served on all ferry routes, including a full bar with mixed drinks. In November 2006, the M.S. Marin underwent a complete refurbishment including all new seating, paint, deck covering and carpeting, ceilings and wall paneling, lighting, PA system, restrooms, refreshment stand, security cameras, windows, bicycle racks (accommodate at least 70 bicycles), modern handicap lift; generator and electrical systems. It re-entered service in July 2007.

In January, 2009 Golden Gate purchased two additional Catamarans, the M.V. Snohomish (renamed M.V. Napa) and the M.V. Chinook, from Washington State Ferries. The Napa entered service in June (allowing the Del Norte to undergo engine replacement); the Chinook will undergo a major refitting starting in late 2009.

Transit Time

As of 2010, scheduled transit time from Larkspur to San Francisco is 40 minutes. The original planned transit time was approximately 20 minutes when the ferries were powered by the 3 gas turbine water jets. The Arab Oil Embargo hit and the standard operating procedure was changed from 3 to 2 turbines. In the mid 80's, the boats were modified to the slower but more fuel efficient diesel / prop engines.

See also

Golden Gate Ferry links with the following transit agencies in San Francisco and Marin County:

• AC Transit
• BART
• Marin Transit
• San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni)
• Vallejo Transit
• Western Contra Costa Transit (WestCAT)

External links

• Golden Gate Ferry
• Golden Gate Organization
• Golden Gate Transit
• Marin Transit
• TransLink - The Bay Area's Smart Card