CA: Larkspur ferry expansion planners begin environmental review

Golden Gate Ferry officials have launched an environmental study for a proposal to expand Larkspur ferry service.

Before the pandemic, the commuter ferry service sold out daily, and managers expect the demand to return around 2030. The service is seeking environmental clearance for a potential expansion now before ridership is "bursting at the seams again," said Ron Downing, director of planning.

"There was a lot of frustration among people who wanted to use the Larkspur ferry and couldn't access the service," Downing said. "We're trying to get ahead of it. We're planning for the future."

The district is seeking comments on what should be addressed in the analysis, which is expected to take about two years to complete. A public forum is set for 5 p.m. Tuesday in the community room at 300 Drakes Landing Road in Greenbrae.

The district is limited to 42 trips per day at the Larkspur terminal. An environmental analysis performed years ago to establish the service set that cap.

Since commuter demand dipped because of the pandemic, the number of trips has been reduced to 38, Downing said. The Larkspur route has two ferries.

The new study, which will include an analysis of environmental impacts, will enable the district to look at what improvements can be made on the water and on land to accommodate more daily ferry trips.

Downing said the district expects to need around 54 trips to meet the future demand that will be driven mostly by the expected growth in population in Marin.

Recently, Marin municipalities adopted 10-year housing plans, called housing elements, designed to meet state-mandated quotas to build more residences. Collectively, Marin cities and the unincorporated area of the county were asked to accommodate 14,405 new dwellings in the 2023-2031 planning cycle.

"That's why numbers will be going up in spite of what we've seen since the pandemic with work-from-home," Downing said.

If the district goes up to 54 ferry trips, it will need the support of a third and fourth vessel, Downing said.

The district has put some wheels in motion already, designing a new grant-funded, $30 million, 500-passenger vessel to increase its ferry fleet to eight. The new vessel, which will serve Larkspur, is expected to be ready for service in 2027.

The district also has approved a plan to replace all of its vessels by 2033, a tall task that will require tens of millions of dollars to complete.

As far as parking, the Larkspur Landing site has about 1,800 parking stalls in its main lot and another 200 or so in its overflow lot, district officials said.

The study will look at adding a parking garage on either lot or both to accommodate more vehicles. District officials estimate they would likely want to plan for 700 to 1,000 more parking stalls.

Marin County Supervisor Dennis Rodoni, whose district includes Larkspur Landing, is also a county representative on the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District board. Rodoni said more parking raises concerns about increased traffic in the already busy hub that is used to access shops, a movie theater and transit, as well as the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge to the east and Ross Valley communities to the west.

Transportation planners have done what they can in recent years to ensure transit is successful, designing projects with the "first and last mile" of travel in mind, including building out the bicycle network in the area to ensure multimodal access to the ferry, Rodoni said.

Additionally, there is a new shuttle looping transit riders between the Larkspur SMART train terminal and the ferry, Rodoni said. The project was introduced earlier this year through a partnership among Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit, the Golden Gate Bridge district and the Transportation Authority of Marin.

"The more people we could put on the ferry, if we can get them there with a first-and-last-mile connection without driving, that will actually reduce the demand for parking and highway traffic," Rodoni said. "We really need to have a more efficient public transit system in Marin that takes people across the county and out of county."

Julia Gonzalez, spokesperson for SMART, said its overall ridership continues to grow, exceeding pre-pandemic numbers by 30% and setting new records monthly. She said the train's Larkspur station has become the second busiest in the system with increasing demand for transfers to the ferry.

"We continue to work with Golden Gate to improve the transfer timing at this key regional connection point and to support improved access to the ferry terminal," Gonzalez said. "This study and the scoping meetings provide valuable opportunities to explore how changes in the public transit landscape may shape future parking demand at the terminal."

The Golden Gate Bridge district is accepting comments via email at [email protected] through Oct. 31.

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