Downtown San Francisco Ferry Terminal Expansion Project Completed

In August, Bay Area transportation, port and civic officials celebrated the completion of a long-awaited waterfront project: the Downtown San Francisco Ferry Terminal Expansion Project.

The $98 million project, which began in 2016, “triples WETA’s (Water Emergency Transportation Authority) San Francisco Bay Ferry capacity in the city core, creates resilient infrastructure for emergency response activities and provides the public with a grand new open space on the San Francisco waterfront,” according to the Port of San Francisco.

“The completion of this project is a magnificent capstone on a decade of serious and smart investment in WETA’s ferry system,” said Nina Rannells, WETA’s executive director. “In the last decade, we’ve built seven new ferries, opened five new or expanded terminals including this one, built two major operations and maintenance yards and charted the future of ferries in the Bay Area. With this project complete, we are ready to tackle that future and grow ferry service even more.

The project included a pair of new ferry gates (Gate F that opened in December 2018 and Gate G that opened February 2019), the refurbished Gate E that opened in February 2020 and the newly finished work on the public plaza at the ferry terminal.

“The new ferry plaza and ferry terminal expansion are great new additions to our waterfront that improve water transportation while also improving our City’s emergency response efforts,” said Port Executive Director Elaine Forbes. “A testament to strong collaboration and partnership between port and WETA staff, the new facilities are forward thinking and designed to withstand projected sea level rise and ensure that we can all enjoy these facilities for decades to come.”

By Sarah Spangler