New emergency transit agency born in Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO -- On Monday, a new Bay Area public transit agency came to life, promising to launch a fleet of new ferries and then rally those boats to move commuters across the Bay if a major earthquake disables bridges or BART's trans-Bay tube.

The state Legislature created the Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority last year to marshal the area's ferries after a natural disaster or terror attack disables Bay crossings or their approaches. Somewhat late in the process, the legislation was altered to allow the agency to take control of ferry services now run by the cities of Alameda and Vallejo.

And while Vallejo city officials expressed ire over that move, the city's former mayor, Anthony Intintoli Jr., was optimistic about the new agency, whose governing board he was appointed to co-chair.

"I think we're going to be able to do a great job for the Bay Area," Intintoli said at the first meeting of the authorities' board of directors in the Port of San Francisco's Pier 1 building. For Vallejo's Baylink ferries, "this is a great opportunity for continuing the expansion of the service."

As an organization, the new authority will closely resemble the Bay Area's Water Transit Authority that it replaced. On Monday, the board hired WTA Chief Executive Officer Steven Castleberry as its new executive director, who promised to maintain the current management structure.

But the agency will have a key advantage over the old authority. The agency is empowered to actually operate ferry services. Aside from running Vallejo's ferries and Alameda's services between San Francisco's Ferry Building, Oakland's Jack London Square, Alameda and Harbor Bay, WETA will be setting up new services.

The agency will do that with the help of $250 million in bond money out of the $20 billion transportation bond, passed by state voters in 2006 as Proposition 1B. Board members and ferry promoters alike lamented the fact that the state Legislature, waiting for the board to be appointed by the governor, state Senate leader and Assembly speaker, has only allocated $25 million so far.

Castleberry told the board that the first of the new services -- from South San Francisco to Jack London Square -- probably won't begin until 2010.

The new agency will also continue its efforts to launch services linking San Francisco with Berkeley or Albany, as well as Redwood City, Hercules, Richmond, Antioch/Martinez and Treasure Island.

Reach Erik Nelson at enelson@bayareanewsgroup.com or 510-208- 6410. Read the Capricious Commuter at InsideBayArea.com.

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