At its meeting of March 5, the Board of Directors of the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) approved a Cooperative Agreement with the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) and the City of Richmond to provide operating subsidy for proposed Richmond ferry service. The 10-year agreement will serve as the basis of future planning efforts among the involved agencies to support and plan for Richmond ferry service. WETA will now begin the process of securing funding for the purchase of two catamaran ferry vessels and construction of a Richmond ferry terminal, at a cost of approximately $40-45 million. WETA will build the Richmond ferry terminal at Ford Peninsula in Richmond. The ferry service should be fully operational in 2018.