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The members of Neighbors for Fire Safety wish to give public thanks to the Berkeley City Council for its 6-0 vote on July 16 in support of the new Hills Fire Station at 3000 Shasta Road. Mayor Shirley Dean, Vice Mayor Shirek and councilmembers Breland,
Thank you so much for your thorough July 23 article on the ferry study that was before the Berkeley City Council this week. It has been inspirational to see Berkeley come together on what is probably the most important public transportation issue of the next decade.
With an almost unanimous vote [seven for and one abstaining], the City Council expressed their support for studying an environmentally friendly, economically sound ferry line from Berkeley to San Francisco. This was after receiving unanimous recommendations from seven city commissions to implement city transportation policy regarding ferries and to study the possibility of a new ferry terminal on the Berkeley/Albany waterfront. In addition to many local groups such as Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition, East Bay Bicycle Coalition, the Gray Panthers, and others who came to speak in favor of ferries, former Mayor Loni Hancock, Albany Vice Mayor Alan Maris, and AC Transit Director Rebecca Kaplan also urged the Council to support a ferry in Berkeley.
The reason ferries are so popular can be summed up in Loni Hancock's letter to the Berkeley City Council, “During the days of the Berkeley Ferry, I frequently rode the ferry to my job in downtown San Francisco. It was a wonderful way to start and end the day, and to experience the natural world en route to the office.” Not to mention the fact that ferries get lots of people out of cars, improve air quality, increase disaster-preparedness, and facilitate recreational access to the Bay.
Berkeley Ferry Committee
