(a) The authority shall create and adopt, on or before July 1, 2009, an emergency water transportation system management plan for water transportation services in the bay area region in the event that bridges, highways, and other facilities are rendered wholly or significantly inoperable.
(b) (1) The authority shall create and adopt, on or before July 1, 2009, a transition plan to facilitate the transfer of existing public transportation ferry services within the bay area region to the authority pursuant to this title. In the preparation of the transition plan, priority shall be given to ensuring continuity in the programs, services, and activities of existing public transportation ferry services.
(2) The plan required by this subdivision shall include all of the following:
(A) A description of existing ferry services in the bay area region, as of January 1, 2008, that are to be transferred to the authority pursuant to Section 66540.11 and a description of any proposed changes to those services.
(B) A description of any proposed expansion of ferry services in the bay area region.
(C) An inventory of the ferry and ferry-related capital assets or leasehold interests, including, but not limited to, vessels, terminals, maintenance facilities, and existing or planned parking facilities or parking structures, and of the personnel, operating costs, and revenues of public agencies operating public transportation ferries and providing water transportation services as of January 1, 2008, and those facilities that are to be transferred, in whole or in part, to the authority pursuant to Section 66540.11.
(D) A description of those capital assets, leasehold interests, and personnel identified in subparagraph (C) that the authority proposes to be transferred pursuant to Section 66540.11.
(E) An operating plan that includes, at a minimum, an estimate of the costs to continue the ferry services described in subparagraph (A) for at least five years and a detailed description of current and historically available revenues and proposed sources of revenue to meet those anticipated costs. Further, the operating plan shall identify options for closing any projected deficits or for addressing increased cost inputs, such as fuel, for at least the five-year period.
(F) A description of the proposed services, duties, functions, responsibilities, and liabilities of the authority and those of agencies providing or proposed to provide water transportation services for the authority.
(G) To the extent the plan may include the transfer of assets or services from a local agency to the authority pursuant to Section 66540.11, that transfer shall be subject to negotiation and agreement by the local agency. The authority and the local agency shall negotiate and agree on fair terms, including just compensation, prior to any transfer authorized by this title.
(H) An initial five-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) detailing how the authority and its local agency partners plan to support financing and completion of capital improvement projects, including, but not limited to, those described in subparagraph (C), that are required to support the operation of transferred ferry services. Priority shall be given to emergency response projects and those capital improvement projects for which a Notice of Determination pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act has been filed and which further the expansion, efficiency, or effectiveness of the ferry system.
(I) A description of how existing and expanded water transportation services will provide seamless connections to other transit providers in the bay area region, including, but not limited to, a description of how the authority will coordinate with all local agencies to ensure optimal public transportation services, including supplemental bus services that existed on January 1, 2008, that support access to the ferry system for the immediate and surrounding communities.
(J) The date on which the ferry services are to be transferred to the authority.
(3) To the extent the plan required by this subdivision includes proposed changes to water transportation services or related facilities historically provided by the City of Vallejo or the City of Alameda, the proposed changes shall be consistent with that city’s general plan, its redevelopment plans, and its development and disposition agreements for projects related to the provision of water transportation services. Those projects include, but are not limited to, the construction of parking facilities and transit transfer facilities within close proximity of a ferry terminal or the relocation of a ferry terminal.
(c) In developing the plans described in subdivisions (a) and (b), the authority shall cooperate to the fullest extent possible with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Office of Emergency Services, the Association of Bay Area Governments, and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, and shall, to the fullest extent possible, coordinate its planning with local agencies, including those local agencies that operated, or contracted for the operation of, public water transportation services as of the effective date of this title. To avoid duplication of work, the authority shall make maximum use of data and information available from the planning programs of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Office of Emergency Services, the Association of Bay Area Governments, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, the cities and counties in the San Francisco Bay area, and other public and private planning agencies. In addition, the authority shall consider both of the following:
(1) The San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Implementation and Operations Plan adopted by the San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority on July 10, 2003.
(2) Any other plan concerning water transportation within the bay area region developed or adopted by any general purpose local government or special district that operates or sponsors water transit, including, but not limited to, those water transportation services provided under agreement with a private operator.
(d) The authority shall prepare a specific transition plan for any transfer not anticipated by the transition plan required under subdivision (b).
(e) Prior to adopting the plans required by this section, the authority shall establish a process for taking public input on the plans in consultation with existing operators of public ferry services affected by the plans. The public input process shall include at least one public hearing conducted at least 60 days prior to the adoption of the plans in each city where an operational ferry facility existed as of January 1, 2008.
(Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 352, Sec. 318. (AB 1317) Effective September 26, 2013. Operative July 1, 2013, by Sec. 543 of Ch. 352.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018