Berkeley, a Look Back: One-way ferry ride across the Bay proposed for 25 cents in 1925

"For 1925, it was estimated that East Bay streetcar and interurban rail lines would provide some 98,700,000 passenger trips, while cross-bay ferries would provide 17,766,000 passenger trips. Motor coach buses had carried about 335,000 passenger trips in the 1924/25 Fiscal Year. The Southern Pacific Railway (which, like the Key System, ran a streetcar system) was proposing a fare of 25 cents for a one-way ferry ride across the Bay, or 30 cents for a round trip."

"The structure was intended to connect to San Francisco at Hunter's Point, cross the Bay to Alameda and extend onwards to Oakland at Seventh and Peralta. The bridge would be nearly 100 feet wide, with six lanes for traffic and three train tracks. Why so far south? To avoid interfering with harbor and port development and operations in both San Francisco and Oakland."

In 1925 East Bay streetcar and interurban lines carried an estimated 98,700,000 passenger trips, while cross-bay ferries provided 17,766,000 trips and motor coach buses about 335,000 trips in the 1924/25 fiscal year. The Southern Pacific Railway proposed fares of 25 cents one-way or 30 cents round trip for ferries, plus 8 cents for streetcar rides. Testimony indicated substantial Key System profits from ferry-boat restaurant service. A Sept. 28, 1925 bridge proposal would link Hunter's Point to Alameda and Oakland with a nearly 100-foot-wide structure housing six traffic lanes and three train tracks, sited south to avoid port interference and meet Army Corps regulations. A Berkeley zoning dispute denied Marshall Steel expansion at Dwight and Grove amid residential growth.

Read at www.eastbaytimes.com