I-580 Accident Underscores Importance of Vehicle and Passenger Ferries on the BayHarrison Chastang, KPOO FM Radiobyline‚ Apr. 30‚ 2007Sunday morning’s crash of a tanker-trailer carrying thousands of gallons of gasoline that resulted in the collapse of a McArthur Maze overpass to the Bay Bridge should encourage Bay Area transit and emergency officials to seriously consider the purchase vehicular ferries, particularly for the transport of hazardous materials during non- commute hours. Ferries and barges were routinely used to transport cars, trucks and cargo across the Bay before the construction of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges in the 1940s. After the bridges were built, ferry service across the Bay was discontinued until the early 1970s, when Golden Gate Transit launched its ferry fleet of passenger only service to Sausalito and Larkspur. In the past two decades ferry service has expanded to Oakland, Alameda and Vallejo, and the ferry played a major role in transporting commuters across the Bay after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. |