Golden Gate Ferry advances fleet overhaul, plans service expansion

Marin’s ferry system is moving into a new era.

Last month, the board governing Golden Gate Ferry approved spending more than $118 million to begin replacing the agency’s aging fleet.

The expenditure includes a $92.4 million base contract with Mavrik Marine Inc. of Washington state to construct the first two of the new high-speed vessels.

“Our passengers, they’ll notice some more reliable service, more modern boats,” said Michael Hoffman, deputy general manager of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District’s ferry division. “They’ll be designed with today’s passenger expectations in mind, with comfortable seating, good accessibility, efficient boarding and disembarking.”

Golden Gate Ferry has seven vessels: four high-speed catamarans constructed in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and three Spaulding class boats built in the 1970s.

While the Spauldings have a greater passenger capacity of 650 to 700, they only travel at 20 knots, so they’re not suitable to serve Larkspur Landing, the busiest Marin port. Trips to and from San Francisco would take those boats nearly an hour. That’s compared to the 30- to 35-minute trips provided by the catamarans, which travel at 36 knots and carry 400 to 450 passengers.

Of the catamarans, only two are able to serve Tiburon and Sausalito because of the way they are designed, Hoffman said.

The new vessels will all be built the same, setting a standardization of equipment and systems, “which really helps us keep our boats more available and on schedule,” Hoffman said.

It will take about 24 months to construct the first one. It will seat 500 passengers and will be named the “Liwa,” expanding the district’s fleet from seven to eight.

The new “Liwa” class vessel meets emissions standards set by the California Air Resources Board. The ferries will have a modern hull design that produces fewer wakes, meaning less impact to shorelines, and consume about 35% less fuel than the current high-speed catamarans in service.

Nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emissions will be reduced by 85% and 95%, respectively, compared to existing ferries.

“So we’re going to have much more efficient vessels,” Hoffman said.

The ferry will be about 165 feet long with two passenger decks, a snack bar and storage for more than 70 bikes. An elevator will allow passengers with disabilities to access both decks.

About 12 months into the build, the contractor will start work on the second boat, which will replace the Del Norte, constructed in 1998. The replacement will have the same name.

The Liwa is expected to arrive in 2027. The goal is to have the Del Norte arrive the next year, then a new ferry every year thereafter until the seven are replaced. The Mendocino, which was constructed in 2001, is the next to be replaced.

The first two projects are supported by $85 million in federal funding and $19.5 million in state funding. District reserves cover the remaining $13.8 million.

The fleet transition comes as the district aims to expand service out of Larkspur Landing and potentially construct a parking garage at the terminal.

Before the pandemic, Larkspur commuter ferry service sold out daily, and that demand is expected to return.

The district is limited to 42 trips per day at the Larkspur terminal. The district expects to need around 54 trips to meet the future demand driven mostly by population growth in Marin.

Officials said they are seeking environmental clearance for a potential expansion now before the system becomes overburdened again.

After about a year of workshops and community engagement, the district board decided last month to expand the scope of an environmental impact report on the proposed project. The board approved spending another $2.3 million on the report, bringing the contract total to produce the report to $6.7 million.

The report is required by the California Environmental Quality Act.

“This EIR that we’re working on does not commit to building a parking structure,” Downing said. “It would only environmentally clear the ability to do a parking structure if the board of directors at some future point decided to do that.”

The expanded scope responds to a few things. One, the passenger demand is expected to be slower than originally anticipated. Consultants will provide new projections every two years to monitor changes.

Secondly, the report initially was only evaluating increased ferry trips and the construction of a parking garage. Riders questioned why a parking structure was needed, and told the district they want the study to include bicycle and pedestrian improvements as part of the proposed project, said Ron Downing, the district’s planning director.

The Larkspur Landing site has about 1,800 parking stalls in its main lot and another 200 or so in its overflow lot, according to the district. The district estimates it would likely plan for 700 to 1,000 more parking stalls.

The expanded scope of the report will look at three project alternatives, in addition to the required, no-project alternative that would preserve the status quo, Downing said.

Each alternative involves expanding ferry service.

One alternative includes future parking structures built in phases according to demand. A second alternative will be limited to bicycle, pedestrian and transit access improvements. A third alternative combines the two.

Lastly, the expanded report will consider potential impacts of the new Liwa class vessel that will replace the fleet. District officials expect the new ferries to be cleaner and more efficient than those in service today, Downing said.

“The analysis will look at those new alternatives,” Downing said, “and they will be compared against each other to identify the best possible alternative that will meet future ridership demand.”

The draft environmental impact report is expected to be available for public comment and review in the middle of next year.