Ferry commuters frustrated by Vallejo-SF service

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A re-occurring commuter problem came to a head Thursday morning for people trying to travel between San Francisco and Vallejo on the water. Ferry passengers say there are problems far too often.

The Ferry Vallejo broke down after making its 7 a.m. run Thursday and had to go out of service. San Francisco Bay Ferry management tried calling two different bus lines to take commuters to San Francisco, but they couldn't find buses to fulfill the request. So, there was no way for commuters to get to San Francisco by water and no way to get there by land.

Some commuters were upset. "You can't always count on it being here. And like this morning, they didn't even have back-up buses for us. We had to wait another hour. Then I'm late for work, I've got appointments, it's just very frustrating because there's no stability with this ferry," commuter Sharon Truex said.

"Ever the last several months, they've only had three boats available to do a three-boat service. Their back-up boat has been in Washington undergoing a mid-life refurbishment," explained Ernest Sanchez with SF Bay Ferry. "And, so right now, they're operating three boats without the back-up."

SF Bay Ferry only took over control of the Vallejo to San Francisco route one month ago. So, this is a fairly new experience for the management team which is promising a number of things including getting their back-up boat back, better preventative maintenance on the boats, better back-up plans, and a website this fall that will provide commuters better information on the status of the ferry. They will also communicate information via text messages and email.

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travel, transportation, vallejo, bay area traffic, terry mcsweeney

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