This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Vallejo Ferry a Popular Option on First Day of BART Strike

At least one early boat was full before its scheduled departure.

The passengers for the regularly scheduled 6:30 a.m Baylink Ferry departing from the downtown Vallejo were in line early but not all of them made it onto the boat.  The 6:30 boat, the Intintoli carries 349 passengers and was at capacity before her schedule departure time.  The 7:00 a.m. boat, the Mare Island had about 225 passengers onboard when she pulled away from the dock.

Commuter Calvin Simpson from Brentwood said he made the decision to take the ferry while he was on the road.  “I heard the metering lights were on when I got to the 242 split and headed for Vallejo,” said Simpson who will work from home at least one day this week.

San Francisco Bay Ferry, which runs the ferry service from Vallejo, has scheduled seven extra boats for the morning and evening commutes. 

Find out what's happening in Fair Oaks-Carmichaelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Along with hundreds of extra passengers there were three members (two human, one canine) of the U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team on hand to provide extra security on land while a Coast Guard fast patrol boat made frequent trips up and down the Mare Island Strait between the Highway 37 bridge and the bay.

Team members Daniel Hendrix and Cory Sumner along with Blasjo, an explosives sniffing dog, walked along the line of passengers waiting to board, sniffing trash cans and then inspecting the boats before passengers boarded.    

Find out what's happening in Fair Oaks-Carmichaelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Fair Oaks-Carmichael