The Loma Prietan
September 2002
Speak Up for a Clean, Green Ferry System
by Teri Shore of the Clean Ferry Coalition
After more than a year of study, the San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority (WTA) is proposing a $600 million ferry expansion and releasing its draft environmental impact report. Public hearings will be held on both the ferry plan and the EIR in September and October. The plan goes to the state legislature for approval in December 2002. Funding is expected in spring 2003 after the EIR is certified.
Two new ferry terminals are being proposed for the South Bay in South San Francisco at Oyster Point and at Redwood City. Site-specific EIRs will be conducted if the overall ferry plan is approved and funded next year.
Please help us make sure any new ferry system will be the cleanest and best in the world. Attend the ferry hearing in your county or write a letter to the Water Transit Authority. Let the WTA know you won't support a new ferry system unless it reduces air pollution; does not threaten wetlands, whales, or shorelines; and does not induce growth.
Join the Clean Ferry Coalition in urging the Water Transit Authority to:
- mandate ferries that are 85% cleaner than federal standards;
- fund low-emission demonstration vessels;
- exclude wetlands sites;
- avoid new dredging;
- minimize parking and charge daily fees;
- offer bicyclists free rides;
- recommend only cost-effective routes;
- require whale observers on fast ferries.
In order for ferries to be comparable to cars and buses in per-passenger emissions, they must be 85 percent cleaner than federal standards that take effect in 2007. Currently ferry engines are uncontrolled.
At the baseline 2007 federal standard, the average fast ferry will produce 500 times more smog-forming gases than cars (nitrogen oxides) per roundtrip and generate 176 percent more cancer-causing exhaust (particulate matter), according to a draft staff report from state air regulators.
The WTA will hold two EIR hearings and nine on the Ferry Plan. EIR comments will be accepted at all hearings.
What You Can Do
Attend EIR Hearings:
- Oakland, Tuesday, September 10, 4-6 p.m., MTC, 101 Eighth Street
- San Francisco, Tuesday, September 17, 4-6 p.m., Port of San Francisco offices, Pier 1
Attend South Bay Ferry Plan Hearings:
- San Mateo County, Tuesday, October 1, 7-9 p.m., 33 Arroyo Drive, Municipal Service Building, South San Francisco
- Santa Clara County, Monday, October 21, 7-9 p.m., Sunnyvale City Council
Chambers, Sunnyvale
Send your written comments to:
San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority, 120 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94111, or via e-mail to castleberry@watertransit.org. To request a copy of the EIR and Ferry plan, call the WTA at 415/291-3377. Deadline: October 31 for Environmental Impact Report comments; November 14 for Ferry Operations & Implementation Plan comments.
For more information:
Visit the Fast Ferries page at Bluewater Network's website, www.bluewaternetwork.org. Or call Teri Shore at 415/544-0790, ext. 20.
The Clean Ferry Coalition is comprised of Bluewater Network, CALPIRG, Golden Gate Audubon Society, San Francisco BayKeeper, Audubon San Francisco Bay Restoration Program, Save The Bay, Treasure Island Wetlands Project, and World Energy Alternatives. The Sierra Club is working very closely with the coalition.