High fuel costs are starting to hit the San Francisco Bay Ferry’s bottom line, possibly prompting more changes if fuel prices don’t start dropping.
For some regular commuters, the San Francisco Bay Ferry has become their preferred method of getting across the Bay.
“It’s a lot cheaper and it’s also very consistent. Like, the traffic can sometimes back up and it can take longer to drive than it does to take the ferry,” Alameda resident Kush Khanolkar said.
Khanolkar commutes to the city from Alameda, so his $10.20 round trip is less expensive when considering the high cost of gas, parking and time stuck in traffic.
But those rising fuel costs are starting to push the SF Bay Ferry service to adjust.
Their ferries run on diesel, which is hovering around $8 to $9 a gallon in California as of Thursday.
In November, the service will be cutting a midday run from San Francisco to Vallejo, which averages about nine riders each day, and could save the service about $250,000 a year in fuel costs.
Cutting that Vallejo run will save money. But if diesel prices remain high, the SF Bay Ferry service says it will have to consider passing on those costs to their passengers.
“We could consider a fuel cost, a fuel charge added onto our fares in the future. That wouldn’t happen until next year. And that won’t be decided until later this year or early next. But again, we’re just sort of monitoring right now,” SF Bay Ferry spokesperson Alexis Matsui said.
The average price of diesel has increased by more than 70% since President Trump first ordered attacks on Iran in February.
This week, the president announced an idea to ban diesel exports in an effort to bring down prices in the U.S. ahead of the midterms.
That idea has drawn sharp criticism from European allies.
If the SF Bay Ferry begins considering a fuel surcharge, it will be formally proposed to its board, and the public will be allowed to have input.