On Sept. 17, the Port of Redwood City released the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Redwood City Ferry Terminal. It is the most detailed public description so far of a ferry that has been "coming" to Redwood City for more than two decades. Public comments are due by 5 p.m. on Nov. 2.
Most coverage has repeated the headline numbers: about an hour to San Francisco, a little longer to Oakland, and 320 passengers per boat. In its first phase, the boat it describes is a weekday commuter service. Before that boat runs, the project would rebuild the western end of Seaport Boulevard, extend the Bay Trail and set new rules on a creek that rowers, paddlers and sailors already use. For anyone who spends time at the Port, those changes are the part of the plan they will feel first.
The boat on paper runs at rush hour
The Draft EIR plans two routes. One runs to the San Francisco Ferry Terminal in about 61 minutes one way. The other runs to Jack London Square in Oakland in about 71 minutes. Initial service would be 3 to 4 weekday peak-period trips in each direction. Midday, weekend and special-event trips would be added only "as demand grows."
That trip count sets the timetable. A handful of morning and evening departures fits a commute to an office in San Francisco or Oakland. A Saturday trip to the Ferry Building isn't part of the opening schedule.
San Francisco Bay Ferry, run by the Water Emergency Transportation Authority, would operate the service. Fares would use Clipper, with connections to BART, Muni, Caltrain, SamTrans and AC Transit. Each route would use two 320-passenger vessels running on renewable diesel. They would cross the Bay at 35 knots and slow to 7 knots in the Redwood Creek Channel. Zero-emission boats aren't yet feasible on routes this long, so the report assumes the current vessels until they reach the end of a 25-year service life.
The money is only partly settled. The project can receive up to $15 million from San Mateo County's Measure A transportation sales tax, and it would need local matching funds. The material released with the draft doesn't include a current total project cost or a confirmed date for service to begin.
The dates have moved before
Redwood City ferry planning goes back to WETA's 2002 implementation plan. Further terminal studies followed in 2007 and 2012, then a 2020 Vision Plan and a feasibility study. According to the Port, its Commission and WETA accepted that study in November 2020, the City Council in January 2021 and the County Transportation Authority in March 2021. The target year has shifted with each stage.
| Source | What it projected |
|---|---|
| San Mateo Daily Journal, feasibility era | Service launching in 2024 |
| Port of Redwood City, February 2022 | Service opening in 2026 |
| Draft EIR, September 2026 | Construction starting in 2027 and taking about four years overall |
The current draft lays out the sequence. First, the 9.2-acre site would be raised to 17 feet NAVD, which takes seven to nine months. Next comes about 15 months for the terminal, parking lot, Bay Trail extension, Seaport Boulevard widening, access changes, railroad track relocation and a replacement maintenance building. Work on hotel, restaurant and other visitor-serving buildings would follow for about 24 months. The four-year figure covers all of it, so the terminal itself would finish before the full build. Even so, the draft doesn't name a launch year, and the schedule still depends on certifying the environmental review and lining up funding.
The draft also shows where Redwood City now ranks. WETA's 2050 expansion planning lists Oakland to Redwood City as a Tier 1 route and San Francisco to Redwood City as Tier 2.
What changes on land comes first
The terminal would sit at the Port's northern end, where Westpoint Slough meets Redwood Creek. The ferry float would be on the creek itself. For drivers, cyclists and walkers who use Seaport Boulevard, the land-side plan is specific:
- A 250-space parking lot with EV charging, a shuttle stop, a drop-off and pick-up zone, and secure bicycle and micromobility parking
- A new two-way access road from the Seaport Boulevard loop road. The western public lot would be reconfigured, losing about five spaces.
- A wider western leg of Seaport Boulevard, from the Pacific Shores Center entrance to the terminal, with a separated Class I bike trail and an ADA-compliant sidewalk
- A future traffic signal at the Pacific Shores Center entrance to handle projected delays
- Removal of about 300 feet of railroad track, rebuilt on a vacated, gated stretch of Frontage Road
The Bay Trail change is small but reaches the most people. A segment already runs along the water's edge in the waterfront park west of the site. The plan would pave an unpaved portion, extend it about 70 feet to the project boundary, and then continue it along the shoreline to the terminal. According to the Port, the walkway is part of more than a mile of public waterfront access, along with picnic areas, restrooms, parking, public art and a fishing pier.
Traffic was one of the first issues raised. In the spring 2024 scoping period, commenters asked that the analysis include the US 101 intersection and plan for traffic control. They also questioned whether ridership assumptions made before COVID still hold.
The creek already has a morning crowd
The 7-knot limit is in the plan "to protect non-motorized water users," along with marine and land species. Those water users are established organizations with addresses on or near Seaport Court:
- Bair Island Aquatic Center at 1450 Maple St. offers year-round rowing and paddling on Bair Island, Redwood Creek, the Port and the Bay. Its homepage posted a "2026 Head of the Port Regatta Success" update on Oct. 5, and October classes are on the schedule. It runs on memberships, though introductory classes are often open to the public.
- Redwood Water Sports at 487 Seaport Ct. offers kayak and SUP rentals, lessons and paddling events.
- Spinnaker Sailing operates from the Port of Redwood City Marina at 451 Seaport Ct. It is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.
- Marine Science Institute at 500 Discovery Parkway runs bookable EcoVoyages on a Bay research vessel, canoe outings and Saturday programs. It is not a visitor center and doesn't accept drop-in visitors.
The 2024 scoping comments asked the Port to study ferry wakes, pile-driving, recreation, dredging, marine mammals, nesting birds and cliff swallows. They also asked about effects on Bair Island State Marine Park and Ecological Reserve. The draft finds that the biological-resource impacts it rates as significant would be reduced to less than significant with mitigation. It also calls for maintenance dredging at the terminal every 2 to 10 years. That would be separate from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' dredging of the Redwood Creek channel.
The Port's own events show how much activity is already on the water. At PortFest on Oct. 3, the Marine Science Institute ran boat tours at five times between 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. This year's tours added a stop at the Institute, where visitors could get off and catch a later boat. The same day included free kayaking, SUP and sailing.
A smaller shoreline project is already in the water
While the ferry is still on paper, a different Port project is already being built. In late February, the Board of Port Commissioners approved the Living Shoreline Pilot Project. It covers a 180-foot stretch of hardened shoreline and will create 648 square feet of rocky intertidal habitat, ECOncrete artificial tide pools and educational signs. Five years of monitoring will follow. The Port calls it the first project of its kind in the Bay region.
The Port's July newsletter showed crane barges installing it. In April, the Port forecast completion in the fall. The September newsletter doesn't report the project as finished, so it's still in progress as far as public updates show. Of the two shoreline projects at the Port, this is the one a person walking the waterfront this fall can actually see.
The ferry site also has an emergency role. The Port is a FEMA-designated Federal Staging Area for the South Bay. The release says ferries could move first responders and supplies, and help evacuate residents, if roads, bridges or airports are cut off. The Port also projects that the planned hotel, restaurant, retail and event spaces could support about 400 jobs.
Weighing in before Nov. 2
The Oct. 7 public meeting at the Port office has already happened. Written comments are still open until 5 p.m. on Nov. 2.
- Read the full draft on the Port's ferry page. Printed copies are at the Port office at 675 Seaport Blvd., the Downtown Library at 1044 Middlefield Road and the Redwood Shores Branch Library at 399 Marine Parkway.
- Email comments to project manager Don Snaman at [email protected], or mail or hand-deliver them to the Port office.
- Comments that cite specific sections are the easiest to answer. For drivers, that's the Pacific Shores Center signal. Rowers and paddlers can point to the 7-knot rule, and trail users to the Bay Trail extension.
Redwood City's ferry plan raises questions about waterfront access, traffic on Seaport Boulevard and what Redwood Shores looks like over the next several years. All of them matter to homeowners when they think about timing. Stephanie Von Thaden follows these Port and city decisions closely as part of her work with Mid-Peninsula clients. If you'd like a private conversation about where your home fits as these projects take shape, request a confidential home valuation.
