San Francisco Bay Ferry has been scoring high on reliability and on-time performance so far this year, according to new data released Aug. 30 by the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA).
Since January, the San Francisco Bay Ferry finished 99% of its scheduled trips and arrived at its destination within five minutes of schedule on 97% of its scheduled trips, WETA data show.
WETA began collecting the data after it launched a real-time transit information system in 2022. The same year, SF Bay Ferry launched a new Anchor Operating System-driven smartphone app that lets users subscribe to real-time rider alerts, the agency said.
“Overall, we’re proud of San Francisco Bay Ferry’s high levels of reliability and on-time performance, but over the last several months, the service has been challenged by equipment failures and vessel availability, and we know there is opportunity to improve,” WETA Executive Director Seamus Murphy said.
“Every major delay or cancellation is an enormous inconvenience for our passengers, and we owe it to them to do everything we can to minimize disruptions,” he added.
WETA has said that it wants to enhance customer experience and reduce disruption and pledges to make improvements by, among other things, hiring an independent engineering company to look at its engineering and maintenance program and offer suggestions for curbing mechanical failures.
WETA has also committed to moving additional engineering resources to quickly repair vessels that are out of service and implementing a text message rider alert function so subscribed users can be notified about routes, days and times they ride the ferry, according to WETA.