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Berkeley ferry service moved one step closer to reality last week when state Sen. Don Perata (D-Oakland) released his long-awaited plan to fund a host of local transit projects with a $1 toll hike on seven Bay Area bridges, including the Bay Bridge. 

The plan, which must win approval from the legislature and Bay Area voters, would increase tolls from $2 to $3 in July 2004, pouring money into two new ferry routes — one connecting South San Francisco to San Francisco, and the other running between San Francisco and a terminal in either Berkeley or Albany. 

The proposal would expand the commuter ferries serving San Francisco to seven lines. Ferries now dock in Oakland, Vallejo, Sausalito, Tiburon and Larkspur. 

Local ferry supporters hailed Berkeley’s inclusion in the Perata plan, conjuring images of wind-swept jaunts across the bay. But opponents raised environmental concerns about the proposal and said the millions set aside for ferries would be better spent on inner-city bus service that would serve more people. 

“Ferry service is really for upper-income people to enjoy — the ones who can afford to buy the $3 glass of wine and sit in the fantail of the ferry,” said Norman La Force of the Sierra Club. 

Linda Perry of the Berkeley Ferry Committee, a local advocacy group, called ferries “the people’s yacht,” noting that the state has pledged to keep fares on par with the price of a BART ticket from Berkeley to San Francisco, which currently costs about $3. 

“This is about increased options,” she said. “It’s not going to be elitist.” 

The Perata bill would set aside $79 million to pay for eight new vessels and a makeover of the San Francisco terminal. The legislation also would provide $12.6 million annually to operate the new ferry routes.  

The Perata package, which also would strengthen BART’s Transbay Tube and boost AC Transit service on Telegraph Avenue, has widespread support from highway and public transit advocates. Perata announced last week that a recent poll showed two in three Bay Area voters backed the plan. 

The bill, which must be approved by a majority of voters, is scheduled for the March 2004 ballot. 

If the bill passes, the San Francisco Bay Water Transit Authority would conduct studies on several possible terminal sites in Berkeley and Albany. The top contender is the Berkeley Marina, with construction proposed for 2009 and service to begin in 2010. The city would have to pay the $12 million terminal price tag. 

Some elected officials have raised concerns about the economic viability of a new ferry route, given the recent collapse of Richmond ferry service, and the environmental impact of hundreds of cars pouring into the marina, which abuts the new Eastshore State Park. 

“The average person — if you say ‘ferries’ — they think only of the positives,” said City Councilmember Kriss Worthington. “But environmentally and financially, they have not proven to be very positive.” 

La Force, of the Sierra Club, said the 600-spot parking lot that a terminal would require would be ugly and counterproductive to the supposed environmental benefits of the ferry. 

“We don’t think it’s necessarily appropriate to build parking lots for cars to drive down to the ferry when we should be working to get people out of their cars,” he said. 

Ferry advocates argued that driving to the terminal and taking a 22-minute boat trip would create less traffic and pollution than driving across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco. 

Heidi Machen, spokesman for the Water Transit Authority, added that the city could reduce fares or provide priority seating for commuters who take public transit to the terminal. 

Still, La Force said the money allocated to ferries in the Perata bill would be better spent increasing BART or express bus service. 

“You’re foisting on people a high-cost system that’s not going to carry a lot of people,” he said.  

Ferry supporters argued that ferries will draw commuters who might not be willing to take a bus.  

“We want people to use mass transit,” said Ezra Rapport, a Perata aide. “We’re looking to be practical.” 

The Perata bill funds just two of the seven new ferry routes the Water Transit Authority has proposed. Machen said the agency will seek additional county and federal money to fully fund a 10-year, $646 million plan that would include service to Treasure Island, Hercules-Rodeo, Richmond, Martinez-Antioch-Pittsburg and Redwood City. 

Perry, of the Berkeley Ferry Committee, said commuter boats will be more than a way to get people to work: “It’s a way to get people out on the water and connected to this Bay that is such an important part of our lives. Their time has come.”