Real-Time Ferry Information

San Francisco Bay Ferry is phasing out use of its current BayAlerts platform to provide better, more user-friendly real-time information to passengers. We know that the BayAlerts service has not met passengers' needs in recent months, and we're working to improve how we communicate with passengers about schedule changes and service alerts.

If you want to continue to receive email notification of schedule changes, special schedules and other important service information, please sign up for our new email list. Real-time service delays will not be sent to that email list. But subscribers to that list will receive notices when we're running a special holiday schedule, when we are proposing schedule changes and other related items. Sign up here. It's very simple!

What about real-time rider alerts? We're working to expand the ways in which you can get this important info.

  • The San Francisco Bay Ferry app: By downloading the San Francisco Bay Ferry app on your smartphone you can subscribe to push notifications for service alerts for the route(s) you ride. This feature is currently available for iPhones and is launching very (very) soon for Android devices. In addition, if you don't ride frequently and don't need push notifications, the San Francisco Bay Ferry app offers real-time departure and arrival information in the schedules tab. There's also a map that shows the current location of ferries in our system.
  • The @SFBFBayAlerts Twitter feed: We know that the @SFBFBayAlerts Twitter feed has been wonky for some time, and we apologize for that. That's part of the reason we're making these changes now. You can follow @SFBFBayAlerts to get service alerts in your feed.
  • Transit App, Google Maps and 511: You can currently subscribe to push notifications for service alerts by route on all devices in the Transit app on your smartphone. Our 511 real-time integration is nearly complete, and that will allow our real-time service alerts to appear on all 511 products (including 511.org) and in Google Maps. We are working to get our real-time feed in as many third-party transportation apps as possible.

There's more coming soon, too.

  • Real-time information on terminal displays: We're working to integrate service alerts and real-time information into the displays at our ferry terminals. Right now, those signs show scheduled departure times. Soon, they will display real-time departures (incorporating any delays) as well as service alerts.
  • Resources on the San Francisco Bay Ferry website: We're adding a live ferry map and real-time departure board to sanfranciscobayferry.com in the coming months. These features will be mobile-friendly, so if you're at a ferry terminal and want to see where your boat is, you'll be able to pull up that information easily on our website.
  • Text Your Terminal: By September we will publish text codes for each terminal in our ferry system that will allow passengers to text a stop code to find out the next departure times.

We're doing everything we can to make this an easy transition for our frequent riders and provide RELIABLE, fast information to passengers. We appreciate your patience while we get the new features up and running. This page will be updated as new features roll out. You can contact us with feedback and requests.