Archive

The People Power Behind the Vallejo Ferry

Published: July, 2001 Transportation Superintendent Pamela J. Belchamber is a formidable ferry and transit activist who can be justly proud of her accomplishments in creating and building the Vallejo ferry into a system that more than 5,000 people count on year-round to commute to work and countless more use for ball games, afternoon shopping, and […]

Archive

SUCCESS OF VALLEJO AND ITS FERRIES: LOCATION, LOCATION FOR THE PAST 150 YEARS

Published: July, 2001   The importance of Vallejo’s location was apparent even before the city’s founding. General Mariano Vallejo, the last Mexican Governor of California, realized that the little settlement was a natural transportation hub where land meets water at the gateway to the Bay Area from the great central valley. He was so enthusiastic […]

Archive

Vallejo’s Baylink Ferry Service Looks Forward

By Michael Setty  Published: July, 2001   The right location, the right people, a dedicated group of riders, and a long series of significant events came together during the past fifteen years, resulting in the creation of the most dynamic ferry service on San Francisco Bay today. From a modest beginning in 1986, ferry service […]

Archive

Let’s Ride The Ferry From Vallejo

By Wes Starratt  Published: July, 2001 Captain Chuck Elles, one of five full-time and six part-time Baylink captains, is at the gangplank of the M/V Mare Island this morning, greeting passengers as they board the boat. He has been up since before dawn bringing the boat over from her overnight dock at Mare Island where […]

Archive

A Picaresque History of the Port of Oakland

Published: July, 2001 Incredible as it seems, the town had been incorporated, the city council duly elected and the waterfront appropriated by Carpentier before most of the residents were aware that Oakland existed. The village had always been called Contra Costa. To be sure, the name was merely a Spanish term meaning "the opposite shore," […]

Archive

Why not a Ferry for both Cargo and People Connecting Bay Airports?

By F. Weston Starratt, P.E.  Published: July, 2001 So, goes the thinking of John Glover, Director of Strategic Planning for the Port of Oakland, which operates the Oakland International Airport. Wouldn’t it be nice if passengers could connect to our flights by high-speed ferries from various points around the bay, including the new San Francisco […]

Archive

Waterfront Dining

Published: July, 2001 Editor’s note: we welcome a new ongoing feature, Waterfront Dining, by GraceAnn Walden, restaurant columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. She also leads culinary-history tours of North Beach, the traditional Italian neighborhood of San Francisco. She lives on Telegraph Hill with her dog Shibui and cat Kinky. When the Bay Area restaurant-going […]

Archive

WTA People Steve Castleberry Manager of Systems Planning, Bay Area Water Transit Authority

Published: July, 2001 I had worked in transportation in the Bay Area for the last thirteen years. It’s always been on the planning and design end though. I think transit designers are really on the front line. They’re the front line soldiers in the transportation war. WTA provides an opportunity to do some fairly important […]

Archive

SUMMER FUN IS SAUSALITO

Published: July, 2001 What could be more fun in the North Bay than Summer in Sausalito? In addition to the magnificent beauty and panoramic views of San Francisco, Tiburon, Angel Island, the Bay Bridge, Alcatraz Island, Mt. Tamalpias, etc., there are land and water fantasies to delight every interest and passion." Let’s start on land. […]