As of Monday, November 2, the Harbor Bay ferry runs three more weekday trips: a 1:05 PM boat to San Francisco and return boats at 12:30 PM and 8:10 PM. Separately, the Island Drive Park & Ride is set to close on January 1 for roughly six months, and its commuter parking will move into Harbor Bay Landing. For the first half of 2027, Bay Farm's most flexible trip to San Francisco starts at 215 Adelphian Way, and its bus commute starts from a borrowed shopping-center lot.
| When | What changes | Where |
|---|---|---|
| November 2, 2026 | New weekday Harbor Bay ferry trips at 12:30 PM, 1:05 PM and 8:10 PM | Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal, 215 Adelphian Way |
| November 1 to 30, 2026 | Weekday Alameda Short Hop suspended | Main Street Alameda |
| October to December 2026 | EBMUD prepares a drilling staging area | Island Drive Park & Ride, 300 Island Drive |
| January 1 to July 1, 2027 | Park & Ride closed; temporary lot opens | Former CVS lot, Harbor Bay Landing |
| January to June 2027 | Drilling beneath the San Leandro Channel | Bay Farm and Peach Street staging areas |
The boat gets new hours, and new riders
For years the Harbor Bay route has been built around the commute peaks. San Francisco Bay Ferry's fall schedule announcement describes the November 2 change as "additional midday and evening service on the Harbor Bay route." On the schedule change page, that comes down to three weekday trips. One is a new westbound departure at 1:05 PM. The other two are new eastbound trips at 12:30 PM and 8:10 PM.
Those three trips change which days can work by boat. The 12:30 PM return gets someone who took a morning boat home by early afternoon. The 1:05 PM departure and the 8:10 PM return together allow an afternoon-and-dinner trip into the city on a weeknight with no car involved. These are weekday changes only. Harbor Bay remains a weekday route, and weekend timetables across the system stay the same apart from minor Vallejo adjustments.
The same schedule change also sends new riders to the Harbor Bay boats. Weekday service between Main Street Alameda and Downtown San Francisco has ended. The agency says weekday travel between Alameda and Downtown SF is now handled by "expanded schedules on the Alameda Seaplane and Harbor Bay routes." Oakland departures bound for Downtown SF no longer stop at Main Street on weekdays. In November, even the Short Hop between Main Street and Oakland is suspended on weekdays because of dredging at the South San Francisco terminal. It resumes Tuesday, December 1.
So the main island's weekday options to Downtown SF have narrowed to the Seaplane and Harbor Bay, while the Bay Farm terminal has added trips.
What parking at Adelphian Way costs, and on which days
The two Alameda terminals handle parking very differently. According to the City of Alameda's ferry parking page, the Main Street terminal at 2990 Main Street has 324 free spaces. The Harbor Bay terminal lot holds 250 cars and two motorcycles, and its parking rules depend on the day of the week.
- Paid days: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday only. The City says it charges on those days to free up spaces when the lot is busiest and to help cover security costs.
- Rates: $0.75 an hour or $3 a day.
- Paid window: 10 hours, from 6:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
- Payment: By app, text or pay station. Mobile payments carry a $0.35 transaction fee.
- Surrounding streets: Nearby streets are in a preferential parking permit zone, with posted time limits for cars without permits.
The paid window ends at 4:00 PM, so a Tuesday rider who parks for the 1:05 PM boat pays only for the hours left in that window. Mondays and Fridays fall outside the paid schedule entirely. The terminal has an on-site security guard and restrooms with limited hours.
You can also get to the terminal without parking. AC Transit Line 31 serves the Harbor Bay terminal, and the City notes the ride is free with a Clipper transfer to the ferry. Line 31 matters again later in this story, because it also stops at the Park & Ride lot that is about to close.
The lot by Grandview Pavilion is a drilling site
The Island Drive Park & Ride at 300 Island Drive, next to Grandview Pavilion, is where AC Transit's W Transbay line, which runs between Bay Farm and San Francisco, stops on the island. Line 31 stops there too. The OX no longer runs, according to AC Transit, so the W is the transbay bus that uses this lot.
EBMUD needs that lot as one end of a tunnel. Its San Leandro Channel Crossing Pipeline Project will install about 2,100 feet of 30-inch pipe roughly 100 feet beneath the channel using horizontal directional drilling. Alameda Post reported that the existing pipeline was installed in 1983 and that the upgrade is meant to improve seismic reliability for water reaching Alameda from storage reservoirs in Oakland.
Early coverage forecast a November closure, but the current schedule is later. EBMUD's project page lists October through December 2026 for preparing the two main staging areas. One is the Bay Farm Park & Ride lot. The other is the Peach Street cul-de-sac near Otis Drive on the main island. Prep work includes building sound walls and digging the pits the drill enters and exits from. The City's relocation page puts the lot closure at January 1 through July 1, 2027, and notes that the dates are approximate and subject to change.
Where commuter parking goes
During the closure, temporary commuter parking moves to the former CVS lot at Harbor Bay Landing Shopping Center, 885A Island Drive. EBMUD says the temporary spaces open as soon as the Park & Ride closes. The City's page prints the street number as 855A in its text, but its map link and EBMUD's notice both point to 885A, the old CVS site.
The City lists what to expect during the switch.
- Signs will go up at both the closed lot and the temporary lot to direct commuters.
- Project staff are coordinating with AC Transit, 511.org and private shuttle bus drivers so they know about the change.
- EBMUD says the signs posted at the lot will give the actual transfer date, which matters if the January 1 date moves.
The temporary lot sits in the island's only shopping center. Alameda Post reported on September 29 that La Penca Azul had reopened there after the center's August closures.
What 2027 sounds like along Island Drive
For people who live near the Park & Ride, construction changes daily life more than parking does. EBMUD's timeline puts drilling from January through June 2027. That work includes drilling a pilot hole, enlarging the bore, assembling the new pipeline above ground along Island Drive, and pulling it through the finished bore. EBMUD's FAQ expects drilling to start in February 2027.
The utility flags three things in particular:
- Hammering. Crews will hammer large steel casing through loose soil at each staging area. EBMUD calls this the loudest phase of drilling and expects it to last about two weeks at each site.
- Overnight work. Pulling the pipe through the bore has to run without stopping once it begins. EBMUD expects it to take about two days, including nights and a weekend, and says it will notify nearby residents in advance.
- Sidewalk storage. The assembled pipe will be stored temporarily along the eastern sidewalk of Island Drive.
Regular work hours are Monday through Friday, 7 AM to 7 PM, with noise and vibration monitored and sound walls around the staging areas. Open-trench work from January through December 2027 will reach Island Drive between Doolittle Drive and Veterans Court, as well as Veterans Court itself. Final paving runs from January to April 2028, and EBMUD expects to finish the project in May 2028. EBMUD's September 23 community webinar is posted on the project page for anyone who wants the full walkthrough.
If construction on Island Drive or the new ferry hours have you thinking about your own plans for the year, Sophia Niu Group is happy to talk through what these changes mean for your corner of Bay Farm. Request a free home valuation and neighborhood consultation, and we'll keep you posted as EBMUD confirms the real dates.
