New ferry connecting to Chase Center—just in time for the Warriors

In another bid to ease the danger of gridlock around Chase Center, SF announced today that new interim ferry service will connect to Pier 48 ½ near the arena starting this weekend.

The mayor’s office announced the new service on Thursday, saying that ferry service will connect with Larkspur, Alameda, and Oakland beginning October 5—the same day the Warriors play a preseason game at Chase Center, the franchise’s first game in the new venue.

“Ferry service to Mission Bay is part of our overall strategy to provide as many transit options as possible,” Breed said in an emailed statement.

UCSF warns commuters and Warriors fans alike to expect increased traffic and possible delays in Mission Bay on Saturday, particularly between 3:30 p.m. (when doors open) and 5 p.m. (when the game starts).

Both San Francisco Bay Ferry (for the East Bay) and Golden Gate Ferry (for Larkspur) will run ships to the new locale.

Since the Mission Bay Ferry Landing remains unfinished, boats will dock at an interim landing with infrastructure loaned from the Water Emergency Transportation Agency. Pier 48 ½ sits next to McCovey Cove, roughly one half mile from the arena.

SF Bay Ferry departs from Jack London Square in Oakland and Main Street Terminal in Alameda. Golden Gate Ferry leaves from the Larkspur Ferry Terminal at Sir Francis Drake Blvd.

The ferries will run to the arena only on select days and at hours designed to serve ticket holders at arena events—see the full calendar of service here.

Fares from the East Bay are $7.20 one-way, or $5.40 with a Clipper Card. From Larkspur it’s $12.50, or $8 with Clipper. [Correction: Golden Gate Ferry says service to Mission Bay will be $14.)

The planned $43 million Mission Bay Ferry Terminal is still in the process of obtaining permits, but the Port of San Francisco hopes to have it open by 2021.

SF will also run new bus lines connecting straight from BART to Chase Center on game days. Thus far there hasn’t been as much gridlock around the new venue as many feared, but the biggest tests for the city’s transit infrastructure are still to come with the NBA season.