BAY AREA QUAKE : Tour Boats, Barges to Act as Bay Ferries to Avert Gridlock

Commuters Friday began test-riding a makeshift fleet of ferries normally used for scenic tours of San Francisco Bay that are being pressed into service to ease the massive gridlock anticipated on the area’s roadways on Monday.

With 10 of the earthquake-stricken Bay Area’s major highways still closed as of Friday, Caltrans is asking drivers to turn to car-pooling, existing public transportation and the ferries to reduce the expected traffic snarl.

With the quake-disabled Bay Bridge expected to be out of commission for as long as two months, the state transportation agency’s primary fear is that commuters will clog the three remaining bridges that connect San Francisco to the East Bay--the Richmond-San Rafael, the San Mateo and the Dumbarton. The Bay Bridge had been handling an average of about 260,000 vehicles a day.

Only a few of the vessels were operating on Friday, making trial runs. About 16 ferries will make up the flotilla leaving from Jack London Square in Oakland and the container terminal in Richmond on Monday morning to make the trip across the bay to the Port of San Francisco and back again, according to Dick Simpson, a spokesman for the Red & White Fleet Ferries, which will use most of its sightseeing boats for the new commuter runs.

The boats will begin their runs at 6 a.m. and the service will continue until midnight. The fare will be $10 for the round trip.

Crowley Maritime, which owns the Red & White Fleet, is sending four of its Santa Catalina Island tour ferries from Long Beach and San Pedro to help with the operation, Simpson said.

He said barge-like boats, each with a deck space the size of a football field, are being sent from Seattle to haul trucks and vans across the bay.

Before the Bay Bridge was built in 1936, ferry boats were the principal form of commuter transportation between San Francisco and the East Bay.

Bill Hein, deputy executive director of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, a planning agency for the nine Bay Area counties, said that the Bay Area Rapid Transit subway system, which connects San Francisco with the East Bay, should be the first choice for commuters, followed by changing work hours and utilization of the emergency ferry service.

Opinion about the advantages and disadvantages of nautical strap-hanging was divided Friday, seemingly along socioeconomic lines, among the first commuters to try the vessels.

Upper-income professionals tended to be philosophical, unfazed by the price of the round-trip ticket and the $1 charge for parking.

“This could be one of the best things to ever happen to us, just for what it will do for mass transit,” said Jerry Poirier, who buys small manufacturing businesses for a living. “In the long run, if people really like living here, a certain amount of selfishness is going to have to change.”

Others said they would feel the pinch.

“I’m trying to find out whether I can deduct this from my taxes,” said Gabrielle Civelli, an art teacher in a private school in the city.