How the Bay's Ferries Disappeared (and Made a Comeback)

[@SamAronow]

TIL Charing Cross used to be busier than Waterloo. I lived in SF for two years and never thought to use the ferries. I remember taking a bus over the Golden Gate Bridge, but I don't remember where I was going. That'll have to change when I return. Also, why can the ferries have bars but not the trains anymore? Get on it, CalTrain.

[@akm_io]

Really loved this video as well as your first one about the Muni. It's really great to see channels that make high quality videos about where I live!

[@peteralbert1485]

I've always thought the cable car was the historic, iconic emblem of SF public transportation. You're reminding me to put the ferries alongside their hill-climbing cousins in this regard. Excellent work!

[@IamTheHolypumpkin]

When I visited the Bay Area back in 2017 I took the ferry from the ferry terminal to Vallejo to visit Six Flags. It was a very convenient journey and I love the smell of salty air. Funnily at the bus stop in Vallejo I met two guys which I then spent they day with. We got into a conversation because we both wore pebble smartwatches. I also took a bus all the way to Novato to visit a small space flight collection.

[@uniworkhorse]

Praise Fog, new video just dropped 😳

[@uniworkhorse]

It's amazing how much pride this video gives me! I've found many outsiders or SF residents love to hate on the city, and it's hard to find pieces that really just step back and enjoy the beautiful history, architecture and people of our home. I'm cognisant of the struggles and pain the city holds - but it's a breath of fresh air not to see ignorant cynicism. Thank you. Also, it's so cool that the ferries are an emergency infrastructure too, I had never thought of them that way! That note at the end where you imagined an alternate timeline where we invested more into transit than cars... One can dream. It may be a step away from these research type historical videos, but I'd love to see you spotlight on legit proponents of transit in the SF/BAY that are doing good work TODAY! Tbh I don't have much background on the history of legislation and the current players and I think that could empower zoomers such as myself with interest in transit to vote for the infrastructure we want to build.

[@Ranman242]

San Francisco is one of my favorite cities in the US and this is fantastic!

[@fender10g]

I live three blocks from those propellors, and I NEVER KNEW they belonged to the boat behind the piers near the ferry building.

[@izzyci]

I fell in love with San Francisco after my first visit several months ago, my favorite city I've ever been to. A magical inspiring place

[@lestranged]

I love the ferry. I only wish there was an easier connection between Jack London Square ferry terminal and BART. It's not a long walk but it's a sketchy walk, especially after dark. When I have out of town visitors I always take them on the ferry- for just a few dollars you get a mini bay cruise! Way cheaper than the tourist boats but just as nice of a view.

[@EdTransit]

There are scooters usually on the bike racks just as you get off. Just bring a helmet.

[@TohaBgood2]

Yeah, BART should really think about a Jack London station. If the Amtrak station is somehow moved this could become a triple connection point. It would still be a bit of a walk, but much more doable than now.

[@chazzyb8660]

The first thing I do on arrival in San Francisco is chase down to the Ferry Building and head out onto the water. Always take the ferry, not the pleasure boats, cheaper and you are doing something useful - well sorta. Happy days.

[@oh2sail]

The ferry/Smart Train is fabulous! What a gorgeous, peaceful way to travel! I’ve been surprised at how few people in SF know about it.

[@chaos386]

It needs to be said that WETA is a perfect name for a ferry operator!

[@jayraymundo4336]

I work at the Bay Area Council and showed this video to our Chief Operations Officer who spearheaded the project to bring the Klamath back to San Francisco. We are interested in showing this video in our rooftop museum. Please reply back with your contact info.

[@TohaBgood2]

You all do great work. Thank you for you service to the region!

[@LQC2556]

The role of ferries in disaster response has also been extremely important in the New York City area, where ferries were used in transporting people in the aftermath of 9/11 as well as rescuing passengers from US Airways flight 1549, which landed in the Hudson River. This is a good reason to continue operating ferry service even if it seems redundant (especially the SF-Oakland route).

[@joshsnyder5882]

This is the perfect level of detail to keep me interested. Yours is my favorite new channel.

[@jasonschoenmann2308]

Great video man. Glad you mentioned smart. It’s opened up a lot of connection opportunities in Marin. And fun fact about the SF side of the ferry related rail infrastructure is the the rail road the serviced most of those terminals which was the STATE OWNED RAILROAD the State Belt. Continued operations until the early 90’s!

[@r.williams8349]

Your my new favorite youtube channel!!! Keep up the great work!

[@lorrainealbert7336]

I love taking the ferry! This is a fascinating history lesson. We’ll done!

[@jimprice1959]

Great video. I sold newspapers on the San Quentin pier of the Richmond-San Rafael Ferry when I was a kid. Seeing the triple expansion steam engine on the Klamath was an exciting experience for a ten year old and led me into an engineering career.

[@dianadiamond9145]

“Where have you been” for all of my KZbin life? Love your channel!

[@sonicwave32]

Another well produced video. I also long for more public transit here including more connections to these ferry stops themselves, but at least we restored another iconic mode of transit and took back some urban space from the freeways.

[@bn3121]

Incredible video. Informative, well researched, beautifully made.

[@sotmMrPants]

Yeah! Let's build it! I take public transportation all the time, but most importantly for this day and age, I would like more bars and cocktails and leisure on my public transportation systems as well.

[@fouroakfarm]

Incredibly well done and researched. Thanks for sharing!

[@Gryphonisle]

Wow. This is not only informative and entertaining, it’s the best use of computer imagery on maps I’ve seen anywhere. We rode the Larkspur SMART line, from the ferry; I’m glad you pointed out the ridiculous distance from the ferry landing, but it’s much worse than that: The park and ride lot for the ferry is about as anti-pedestrian as you could imagine. There are signs, quaint wooden things, to almost everyplace you might want to drive from there, but not a single sign whatsoever to the SMART train. Clearly, Larkspur does not want you to ride the train.

[@Matt-ne6de]

the sidewalk that goes past the ferry terminal and docks has a green smart emblem and an arrow every 100ft or so to lead you over the pedestrian bridge to the smart station. Coming from the smart train there is a blue ferry emblem and arrows on the sidewalk.

[@justin10054]

Thank you for making these videos!

[@hendrsb33]

I grew up in Oakland and I remember the old Key System tracks that ran down Bancroft Ave... although at the time I thought the tracks were for freight trains and always wondered why I never saw freight trains using them. Didn't learn about the Key System until I was an adult. Would've been nice if those old train could've stuck around.

[@superflip1729]

You should make more videos these are amazing

[@badvertise]

Just wanted to echo the sentiment that your videos so far have been super interesting and entertaining. Would love to see more from you!

[@gerry-garcia]

Keep slinging these bangers!!!

[@TerribleLotus]

This was really interesting, the Muni one too. Thank you.

[@enepesf5126]

Keep it up! Great video :)

[@Brianrockrailfan]

great video south part of San Francisco Bay there is the Dumbarton Rail Bridge could do a video about please

[@paulhennessey51]

Love this video and your other on muni. My vote for your next project: the Key Route system in the east bay.

[@ababababaababbba]

another video wooOOO

[@gryhze]

Excellent and well documented video. Can you report on the short lived hovercraft ferry service in the 60’s? There was also a helicopter service called SFO using a large Sikorsky craft.

[@rcloues]

Can you make a video about the North west pacific railroad, and the SMART train. You should go to the Tiburon railroad museum if you haven't already, They have lot of really cool information about the NWP, and how if connected to the ferries.

[@valdesadam]

I love this video. Thank you for creating it. I have been curious to know what happened to the ferry system. I hope it comes back.

[@craigtorso]

Your videos have been great so far. Please keep making more!

[@theohtml]

Your content is absolutely fantastic

[@luislaplume8261]

There are now several ferry routes between Manhattan and New Jersey plus a ferry from Wall Street to Bay Ridge in Brooklyn and another one to Rockaway Beach in Queens. By 1967 the last ferry to New Jersey ended and only the Staten Island ferry remained when I was a boy in NYC during the Mad Men era.

[@frequentlycynical642]

Great research! My hat's off in respect.

[@AlexCab_49]

I wonder if the lower deck of the Bay bridge could be reverted back to rail and if passenger trains could traverse them into SF that way we would no longer need a bus bridge into the city

[@chaos386]

Another idea could be a contra-flow bus lane, like the Lincoln Tunnel into NYC has. They can be very high capacity (the Lincoln Tunnel one carries ~55k passengers in the peak hour, IIRC), and would be a good complement to the 2nd transbay rail crossing that’s planned.

[@cheef825]

When they rebuilt the bay bridge around 10 years ago the 2 deck system was abolished between treasure island and Oakland

[@georgegong6813]

Don't get me wrong this is a very well done video. Though having been a regular ferry commuter till I retired in 2016, it has many advantages as well as disadvantages too. I worked varies shifts especially graveyard & unlike the ferry services in Washington State & New York, there is no late night or owl service available. Ferries work if you are near the waterfront where they dock. Often I preferred this mode of service still & one of the perhaps few who continued my journey by MUNI to where I had to go. I assume it was no different for others. Also my apologies ferries in my opinion are not the answer to all the issues with moving people as it has just as many restrictions & limitations as other modes of transportation. Nothing is perfect. I've experienced a few times before retirement ferry service unavailable for various reasons including weather, & yes even bridges being closed for various reasons. So even with advance warning too, so much for the so called "Water Emergency Transit Authority". Many times what comes to it's rescue? Bustitution. So much for anti bus types.

[@phlatlander]

Awesome video!

[@MrZephyr97]

Great video!!

[@CaligoldBob]

Very nicely done. Thank you.

[@Alejandro-vn2si]

Can you in your next video talk about the transbay tube?

[@guillermocd9003]

🎉👍🏼 good video

[@TohaBgood2]

Well?! When is the next video coming? 😀

[@singlespeeddotorg]

Great video. Very informative. 2 more historical ferries are left, both now as floating homes in Sausalito (though I don't think either actually floats any more). The Vallejo en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vallejo_(ferry) and City of Seattle en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Seattle_(steam_ferry). The latter is half lived in by the owner and the other half is rented on AirBNB under the name Yellow Ferry.

[@Raz22HD]

Great video!