Bids Out for Ferry Boats

From prequalification of interested boatyards to review of Technical and Cost Proposals, the San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority has launched into the procurement process for its first two ferryboats.

These "spare boats" are funded with new bridge tolls from Regional Measure 2 and will be available to existing operators in case their boats are out of service for repairs or if local operators need increased passenger capacity. Later, the boats can be phased into various WTA service routes. Being a leader in the maritime environmental arena, the WTA set the following boat standards: emissions that beat Federal EPA 2007 diesel emissions regulations by 85%, minimal wake wash design, and inclusion of sonar to minimize any possibility of a whale strike. The boats are scheduled for delivery in late 2007 and will carry up to 220 passengers and more than 25 bikes.