The Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) and the San Francisco Bay Ferry is seeking input from Alameda residents on its ferry service. WETA has a new collaborative planning effort underway called Bay Ferry 2050. This effort is a unique opportunity to re-imagine water transit and address emerging priorities concerning the environment, mobility, accessibility, equity, economic development, emergency response, and quality of life throughout the Bay Area.

The plan will include the level of service and extent of WETA ferry operations and emergency response, according to the Bay Ferry 2050 website. Currently, WETA is in Phase 2 of the plan. This includes the Service Vision development. This “Service Vision” informs how WETA operates in the future and what changes will need to be made to get there. The vision will serve as the foundation of WETA’s Business Plan, which will present the specific strategies and actions required to achieve the 2050 Service Vision. Strategies and goals are divided across six focus areas: Regional ferry network, emergency response, environmental stewardship, community connections, organizational capacity, and financial capacity.

A part of Phase 2 is collecting feedback from the community in the form of a quick priorities poll. In the poll, participants are asked a range of questions from “How often do you use the ferry?” to “How should [WETA] prioritize expanding ferry service?”

Phase 2 is scheduled to be completed in November. Phase 3 will see a draft business plan developed and the implementation of that plan.

To take part in the quick priorities poll, visit www.bayferry2050.org/embeds/projects/15818/survey-tools/13351. To learn more about the Bay Ferry 2050 plan, visit www.bayferry2050.org. The San Francisco Bay Ferry Service handles the Seaplane Lagoon, Harbor Bay and Oakland & Alameda ferry services.

In other ferry news, WETA launched a new integrated ticketing system and smartphone app for San Francisco Bay Ferry on July 19 to improve and streamline the fare payment system for passengers. According to WETA, the app, available on iPhone and Android, was built on Hornblower Cruises’ Anchor platform.

The ticketing system allows passengers to purchase ferry tickets for regular service as well as special event service to Oracle Park and Chase Center right from their smartphones in the new San Francisco Bay Ferry app or San Francisco Bay Ferry’s website at www.sanfranciscobayferry.com. Anchor now powers the ferry system’s paper ticket system as well.