Starting Monday, Nov. 2, San Francisco Bay Ferry's weekday boats between Oakland and Downtown San Francisco no longer stop at Main Street Alameda. Weekday riders headed to the city are being sent to two other terminals, Seaplane Lagoon at Alameda Point and Harbor Bay on Bay Farm. Most of Alameda's weekday ferry riding now starts at those two terminals. The roads, paths and bus lines that lead to them are new or nearly new: a protected bikeway finished in September, trail connectors that opened in 2026, and a bus line extended to the Point last year.

Main Street keeps its weekends. For the next five weeks, it has almost nothing on weekdays.

Why November Is the Quietest Month at Main Street

When SF Bay Ferry first proposed the change in September, the Alameda Post reported that Main Street would still get some weekday service through the South San Francisco route. It would also stay available for special-event boats to Oracle Park and Chase Center. But that route goes on hold for the same month. The South San Francisco terminal needs dredging, so the route's last day in service is Friday, Oct. 30, and the agency expects it back on Dec. 1.

The South San Francisco pause also stops a second service. Weekday Alameda Short Hop trips between Main Street and Oakland are suspended from Nov. 1 through Nov. 30 because of the cuts on the South San Francisco route. Weekday Short Hop service is scheduled to come back Tuesday, Dec. 1.

Here's what Main Street looks like for the rest of the year:

• Weekdays in November: no Oakland and San Francisco stops, no South San Francisco route and no weekday Short Hop.
• Weekends: the Oakland and Alameda route keeps serving Main Street in full on Saturdays and Sundays, according to the Alameda Post. Weekend Short Hop trips still run only one way, from Main Street to Oakland.
• Starting Dec. 1: the South San Francisco route and weekday Short Hop trips are expected back.

Seaplane Lagoon Got the New Trips

The service cut from Main Street went to the two terminals at Alameda's edges. SF Bay Ferry's Oct. 8 announcement describes the changes as adding peak commute capacity and streamlining weekday service. Here are the weekday changes on the Seaplane route:

The 5:00 p.m. trip home matters most at rush hour. The Alameda Post reported the agency's own description of it:

"This represents a major improvement for Alameda commute service and will relieve capacity concerns on the existing 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. trips on that route."

The 6:00 a.m. Seaplane departure takes the place of a 5:55 a.m. trip from Oakland, which is eliminated. The route already carried plenty of riders before this change. In February 2025, SF Bay Ferry said Seaplane Lagoon averaged about 1,500 riders per weekday, which made it the system's second-busiest weekday route.

Harbor Bay gets less, but the new trips fill midday and evening gaps. Weekdays now include a 1:05 p.m. westbound trip plus 12:30 p.m. and 8:10 p.m. eastbound trips.

Getting to the Lagoon Without Driving

If you live near Park Street or the Webster Street corridor, Seaplane Lagoon is farther away than Main Street was. Most of the routes there were finished this year:

1. Central Avenue. The city's October 2026 update says construction is substantially complete on three roundabouts, new protected bikeways, crossing improvements and resurfacing. Landscaping and stormwater work will follow in the coming months. The two-way protected bikeway runs on the south side of Central from Eighth Street to Lincoln Avenue. The city held a ribbon cutting for the project on Sept. 28.
2. The Cross Alameda Trail. At the terminal, the trail becomes a 0.3-mile promenade and protected bikeway that runs out to West Atlantic Avenue. Four north-south connectors from Jean Sweeney Open Space Park opened in 2026, reaching Eighth Street, Wood Street, Challenger Drive and Triumph Drive. The city's trail page lists 3.7 miles as complete, or 91 percent. The last 0.2-mile piece, at Clement Avenue and Tilden Way, is expected in early 2027.
3. AC Transit Lines 19 and 96. Both lines stop at West Atlantic Avenue and Orion Street. The city places that stop 0.4 miles from the terminal. Line 19 reaches the Point because AC Transit's Realign changes, which took effect Aug. 10, 2025, extended it west.
4. Bike lockers. The city counts 24 BikeLink lockers at Seaplane Lagoon, 24 at Harbor Bay and 20 at Main Street. SF Bay Ferry says every boat has bike racks, but space can be tight on some departures.

Plenty of riders already arrived this way. When the city announced paid parking at the lagoon in January, it said 29 percent of Seaplane Lagoon riders in 2025 reported biking or walking to the ferry.

Driving costs money midweek. Since Feb. 3, 2026, the Seaplane Lagoon lot has charged $0.75 an hour or $3 a day on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. A security guard is now posted at the terminal, and parking stays free on Mondays, Fridays and weekends. According to the city's ferry parking page, the lot has 400 spaces. Harbor Bay's 250-car lot charges the same rates on the same days, and paying by phone adds a $0.35 fee. The city can raise or lower the daily rate by $1, no more than once a quarter, with two weeks' notice, depending on how full the lots run.

If you're early for a boat, the lagoon has more space than Main Street did. The Seaplane Lagoon Promenade at 1801 Ferry Point sits across from the Alameda Naval Air Museum and has seating, picnic areas, public art and restrooms.

Crossing to Oakland Means Taking Woodstock

Weekday Short Hop trips are off for November, which leaves one boat for weekday trips across the estuary. The Oakland Alameda Water Shuttle, a boat named Woodstock, isn't changing its schedule. It leaves from the public dock in Bohol Circle Immigrant Park, at the north end of Fifth Street near Target. It lands at the foot of Broadway in Jack London Square, just west of Scott's Restaurant. The ride is free, takes about seven minutes and holds up to 31 passengers and 14 bikes. Cargo bikes are allowed too.

For some West End riders, the shuttle can also be a way to San Francisco. SF Bay Ferry notes that the Oakland Ferry Terminal is about 0.2 miles from the shuttle's Oakland dock. Oakland boats to Downtown San Francisco keep running all week. They just skip Main Street now.

According to the published schedule, Alameda departures run 7:20 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 7:20 a.m. to 9:36 p.m. Friday through Sunday. The timetable has gaps between some trips. The city says the gaps cover required crew breaks, refueling and crew changes.

Mondays are the hardest day. The shuttle doesn't run, the weekday Short Hop is paused, and the South San Francisco trips that the Alameda Post listed as the Monday fallback are on hold until December. That leaves AC Transit. Line 96 stops on Mitchell Avenue behind Target on the Alameda side and at 7th and Franklin streets in Oakland.

The shuttle is also getting extra use from work on the tubes. The city's shuttle page says Alameda received Alameda County Transportation Commission money tied to construction from the Oakland Alameda Access Project. That money adds service during the roughly 19 months of work expected in the Webster and Posey Tubes, and it has funded longer weekend hours since March 2026. In its first two years, Woodstock carried more than 250,000 riders and 60,000 bikes. Weekly trips grew 84 percent to 345.

What December Brings Back, and What Stays

Dec. 1 brings back part of Main Street's weekday service. The South San Francisco route and weekday Short Hop trips are expected to resume that day. Special-event boats to Oracle Park and Chase Center remain part of the plan for Main Street. The Oakland and Downtown San Francisco boats won't come back to Main Street on weekdays. That change is part of the new schedule, not something tied to the dredging.

The water shuttle's longer-term schedule is also set. Phase 2 of the pilot runs from July 2026 through June 2028, at an estimated total cost of $3.5 million. Six-day service, Tuesday through Sunday, is planned through October 2027. From November 2027, the plan drops to five days, Wednesday through Sunday, and Tuesday service continues only if there's enough funding. The city says its evaluation of the first two-year pilot will be published this fall. To get alerts about service changes, sign up for SF Bay Ferry's text, email or app notices, or join the city's mailing list.

Which terminal is closest to your front door, and how you get there, can change over a few months. At Red Oak Realty, we keep up with changes like this one, from the 6:00 a.m. Seaplane boat to Woodstock's Monday gap, because they shape daily life on the island. If you'd like to talk through how Alameda's new weekday ferry map fits your plans, Work with a Seriously Local Agent.