When Will Sausalito Ferry Service to San Francisco’s Ferry Building and Fisherman’s Wharf Resume?
Update April 30, 2024: Golden Gate Ferry says service between Sausalito and the Ferry Building in San Francisco will resume tomorrow morning, May 1, 2024, after the necessary repairs to the pier were completed today. Service had been out since April 19, when damage to a steel pillar was discovered.
We have not yet heard when Blue & Gold Fleet will resume service between Fisherman’s Wharf and Sausalito, but presume it will be back soon.
Update April 29, 2024: Today’s update from Golden Gate Ferry makes no mention of when they expect service to resume. We’ve asked around town today and no one we talked to has anything to add. Since the District was hoping to resume service last week, we’re optimistic that this won’t drag on too long… But it’s government bureaucracy, so you never know.
The “bus bridge” running on the same schedule as the ferries continues to operate — see details below for bus stop locations. The District has said that each bus can carry only 3 bikes on their bike racks on most trips, and additional bikes cannot be brought inside the buses. If you’re bringing your bike, be sure to line up early. (When the ferries resume sailing they have no restrictions on bikes.)
Update April 26: Golden Gate Ferry has shared with us that service will not be resumed this weekend, so sometime the week of April 29 is now the target. On April 22 they had shared that they were hoping to restore service before this weekend. Blue and Gold Fleet service to Fisherman’s Wharf will not resume until Golden Gate Ferry deems the pier safe to use.
What are They Doing About the Damaged Sausalito Ferry Pier?
Update April 24: The good news…
Crews with a large crane have been working on the pier today.
There is a “structural failure” in one of the four steel pier columns that secure the “float,” the floating platform from which we board the ferry and onto which we disembark. The job of those columns is to keep the float from, well, float-ing away.
The float’s elevation relative to the shore changes as the tides roll in and out each day, since it’s floating on the Bay. It’s connected to dry land by a gangway that has hinged flaps on either end.
On the land-side the flaps link to a steel and concrete causeway that extends into the Bay. (It’s in the foreground of the photo at left that I took to show the crane at work.) On the water-side the flaps rest on top of the float, forming a continuous ramp from the float to land, with the gangway angled more sharply at low tide and more gently at high tide.
Where do I catch the Sausalito Ferry Bus Bridge in San Francisco?
Update April 26: The Bridge District has now changed the location of the “bus bridge” bus stops in front of The Ferry Building to the Embarcadero at Washington St. in San Francisco, which is to your right as you exit the Ferry Building. As we understand it, the buses will be across the street from the Ferry Building at Washington, but they’ve made enough switches that I’d check both sides as you walk up.
Although the Golden Gate Bridge District has its own buses in addition to the ferries, they are using Marin Transit buses for at least a significant portion of the trips. Those “Mt. Tam silhouette” buses are the ones I’ve seen near the pier all this week. You can see what the buses look like in the photo of the Sausalito bus parking area below, and their green highlight color is similar to the Golden Gate Bridge buses.
Here’s a map of the area:
Where do I catch the Sausalito Ferry Bus Bridge in Sausalito?
The typical pattern for the Sausalito Ferry “bus bridge” buses is to welcome passengers in what is usually the tourist bus area on Humboldt Ave., as shown in the photo above. They often arrive early and pause on Anchor St. near the intersection with Humboldt (marked with the red pin on the map below), then pull up as their departure time nears.
Insiders Tip: Click on the mini satellite image at the lower left of the map to display a satellite view of the area.
If tour buses are taking all the spaces in the bus parking area, the bus bridge buses will board at their waiting area on the corner of Anchor St. and Humboldt Ave., which is only about 50 feet (30 meters) away. I took the photo above about 10 feet (3 meters) down Humboldt from the intersection with Anchor, so you’ll be able to see the right bus once you’re there, regardless of the corner where it’s parked.
Insiders Tip: Golden Gate Ferry published one update this week where they said to look for the buses on Washington St. in Sausalito. That was a mix-up and should be ignored. The San Francisco side of the bus bridge, not the Sausalito side, is on the Embarcadero at Washington Street. (Sausalito, unlike most American towns founded in the 1800s, doesn’t have a Washington Street!)
Update April 22:
- The Marin Independent Journal has shared that Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz, a spokesperson for the Golden Gate Bridge Highway & Transportation district, reports that the District expects Sausalito ferry service to resume later this week.
Update April 21: The Golden Gate Ferry has shared with us tonight that there will be no change in the suspension of Sausalito Ferry service on Monday, April 22. Bus service will continue to link the Sausalito Ferry landing and The Ferry Building in San Francisco on the same schedule that the ferries would be following if they were running. The information in our April 20-21 update, which includes a relevant map, is unchanged.
We’ll post m0re information here this week as we find it.
