San Francisco Bay Ferry Awarded $11 Million Grant for Electric Vessel
San Francisco Bay Ferry has been awarded a $11 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to support the agency’s plans to procure the nation’s first high-speed battery electric ferries.
The award—announced by the FTA on Monday as one of 18 new ferry grants totaling nearly $300 million—advances Phase 1 of SF Bay Ferry’s Rapid Electric Emission-Free Ferry (REEF) Program, a suite of projects to transition the agency’s fleet to zero-emission propulsion technology. The FTA grant will support the procurement of a class of three 150-passenger battery-electric vessels serving Treasure Island, Mission Bay, Downtown San Francisco and additional emerging communities on the San Francisco waterfront.
"San Francisco’s waterfront is thriving, and this award will make sure that they are connected and accessible using state-of-the-art, zero-emission, congestion-reducing ferries," said Jim Wunderman, Chair of SF Bay Ferry’s Board of Directors. "This is happening thanks to bold investments from the Biden-Harris Administration and strong support from the Bay Area Congressional delegation and ferry supporters including House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and Senator Alex Padilla."
WETA said it has now secured roughly $136 million in funding from local, state and federal agencies to implement its REEF Program. This includes state and federal funding for system planning, new battery-electric vessels and shoreside infrastructure.
Future phases of the REEF Program include two new 400-passenger battery-electric vessels, conversion of four diesel 400-passenger ferries to zero-emission technology, terminal electrification across the system and expansion and electrification of the agency’s Central Bay Operations and Maintenance Facility in Alameda.
In August, SF Bay Ferry unveiled designs of the vessels that will operate on the Emerging Waterfront Neighborhoods Network. The agency expects to award procurement contracts on those ferries this fall. Delivery of the first vessel is expected in 2026.