 | |
 Four of the system's ferries at theLarkspur Landing headquarters | |
| Locale | Marin County,San Francisco |
|---|---|
| Waterway | San Francisco Bay (North Bay) |
| Transit type | Passenger ferry |
| Operator | Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District |
| Began operation | August 15, 1970 (1970-08-15) |
| No. of lines | 5 (plus 2 special) |
| No. of vessels | 7 |
| No. of terminals | 6 |
| Daily ridership | 6,200 (weekdays, Q3 2025)[1] |
| Yearly ridership | 1,494,500 (2024)[2] |
| Website | goldengate.org/ferry |
Golden Gate Ferry is a commuter ferry service operated by theGolden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District inSan Francisco Bay, part of theBay Area ofNorthern California, United States. Regular service is run to theFerry Building inSan Francisco fromLarkspur,Sausalito,Tiburon, andAngel Island inMarin County, with additional service from Larkspur toOracle Park andChase Center. The ferry service is funded primarily by passenger fares andGolden Gate Bridge tolls. In 2024, Golden Gate Ferry had a ridership of 1,494,500, or about 6,200 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2025.
Golden Gate Ferry is a different system fromSan Francisco Bay Ferry, which provides passenger ferry service between San Francisco and counties other than Marin.
Golden Gate Ferry began service between San Francisco and Sausalito on August 15, 1970, with MSGolden Gate.[3] Service to Larkspur started in 1976. Service to Pacific Bell Park (now Oracle Park) started in 2000. Tiburon service began on March 6, 2017,[4] replacing service that had been run byBlue & Gold Fleet and other private operators since 1962.[5] Service to Chase Center began in 2019 using an interim terminal located at Pier 48½.[6] A permanent Mission Bay terminal is expected to open in 2021 at the foot of 16th Street to replace the nearby interim Chase Center terminal.[7][8] The agency began operating ferries to Angel Island in December 2021.[9]
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Golden Gate Ferry operates regular passenger ferry service on four routes:
Limited service operates from Larkspur toOracle Park forSan Francisco Giantsbaseball home games and from Larkspur toChase Center forGolden State Warriorsbasketball home games. Supplemental service is provided for special events.[10]
Golden Gate Ferry fares differ by route, passenger type, and method of payment.[11] As of October 2025, fares are as follows:
| Route | Fares | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult Single Ride | AdultClipper Card | Youth / Senior / Disabled / Medicare | Clipper START | |
| Larkspur - Ferry Building | $14.00 | $9.25 | $7.00 | $4.65 |
| Sausalito - Ferry Building | $14.00 | $8.25 | $7.00 | $4.15 |
| Tiburon - Ferry Building | $14.00 | $8.25 | $7.00 | $4.15 |
| Angel Island - Ferry Building | $15.50 | $9.75 | $8.00 | $5.65 |
| Larkspur - Chase Center | $15.00 | |||
| Larkspur - Oracle Park | $16.00 | |||
Transfer discounts are available to/fromGolden Gate Transit,Marin Transit,Muni, andSMART for Clipper card users.
Golden Gate Ferry has a fleet of fourcatamarans and threemonohull vessels.[12] All ferries are wheelchair accessible. The catamarans can carry 30 bicycles, and the monohull vessels can carry 150 bicycles. All ferries have restrooms and on-board refreshments, including a full bar.
The monohull vessels are named MSMarin, MSSan Francisco, and MSSonoma.Marin can carry 750 passengers, andSan Francisco andSonoma can carry 630 passengers each. They were purchased from Philip F. Spaulding & Associates inSan Diego in 1976–1977. They were originally powered bygas turbinewater jets but were converted todiesel engine propeller drives in 1983–1985. More efficient diesel engines were installed in 2001–2002.[13] TheMarin was refurbished from November 2006 to July 2007.[14]
The catamarans are namedMV Del Norte,MV Golden Gate,MV Mendocino, andMV Napa.Del Norte has a capacity of 400 passengers while the other three vessels have a capacity of 450 passengers. The 1998-builtDel Norte and 2001-builtMendocino were built for Golden Gate Ferry to allow faster and more frequent service than the monohull ferries.Napa (formerlySnohomish) andGolden Gate (formerlyChinook) were purchased fromWashington State Ferries in January 2009.[15]
In late 2018, Golden Gate Ferry reached an agreement to lease MVMillennium from Rhode Island Fast Ferry for one year for $2.5 million.Millennium allowed full service to continue whileMarin andSonoma underwent major work and the other ferries received regular maintenance.[16] TheMillennium remained in service until 2020 before returning to Rhode Island.
When MSGolden Gate retired in 2004, she had made 42,108 round trips between Sausalito and San Francisco, carried 21 million passengers, and traveled nearly 1.3 million nautical miles (2,400,000 km; 1,500,000 mi).[17]
