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28-821: Golden Gate Ferry is a commuter ferry service operated by the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District in San Francisco Bay , part of the Bay Area of Northern California , United States. Regular service is run to the Ferry Building in San Francisco from Larkspur , Sausalito , Tiburon , and Angel Island in Marin County , with additional service from Larkspur to Oracle Park and Chase Center . The ferry service

56-456: A governmental area or by their governmental representatives. Special districts possess some form of civil office , that is, the board has received a delegation of sovereign power from the state. Some boards may be appointed by only landowners. Private entities may appoint some or all of the members of a special district; however, there must be evidence of civil office. In addition to special districts with privately appointed boards,

84-426: A special district government, rather than as a subordinate agency, an entity must possess three attributes—existence as an organized entity, governmental character, and substantial autonomy. Each state description also lists various statutory authorities, commissions, corporations, and other forms of organizations that have certain governmental characteristics, but are subject by law to administrative or fiscal control by

112-451: A special district may have a privately founded board; however, such a board could not be given the power to set a tax. There is a citizen-government fiscal accountability relationship. To maintain accountability for special districts, states must maintain ultimate control (the power to repeal the authorizing law at any time). Due to public foundation and, thus, ultimate control, the state can freely delegate sovereign power (such as

140-837: Is a special-purpose district that owns and operates three regional transportation assets in the San Francisco Bay Area : the iconic Golden Gate Bridge , the Golden Gate Ferry system and the Golden Gate Transit system. All three assets connect Marin County with San Francisco. In the 1950s and 60s, officials in charge of the Golden Gate Bridge District coordinated to kill the popular BART extension into Marin County in order to preserve their own toll revenues. The District

168-447: Is funded primarily by passenger fares and Golden Gate Bridge tolls. In 2023, Golden Gate Ferry had a ridership of 1,299,200, or about 5,700 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024. Golden Gate Ferry is a different system from San Francisco Bay Ferry , which provides passenger ferry service between San Francisco and counties other than Marin. Golden Gate Ferry began service between San Francisco and Sausalito on August 15, 1970 with

196-500: Is provided for special events. Golden Gate Ferry fares differ by route, passenger type, and method of payment. As of August 2024, fares are as follows: Transfer discounts are available to/from Golden Gate Transit , Marin Transit , Muni , and SMART for Clipper card users. Golden Gate Ferry has a fleet of four catamarans and three monohull vessels. All ferries are wheelchair accessible. The catamarans can carry 30 bicycles, and

224-639: Is the contractor for a majority of bus service provided by Marin Transit , a relationship that dates to 1971. Golden Gate Transit has operated bus service across the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge to Contra Costa County on behalf of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission since 1993. The District's primary revenue source is tolling on the southbound lanes of the Golden Gate Bridge. (The last of

252-808: The California North Coast , Humboldt County , declined to join the district after its residents opposed the bridge's construction, fearing that the increase in tourists and newcomers would disrupt the local redwood lumber industry and various cattle and sheep ranches. The District provides regional bus and ferry transit service throughout the Golden Gate Corridor, which runs from San Francisco to Sonoma County. The District does not operate transit service in Napa, Mendocino, or Del Norte counties. Within Marin County, Golden Gate Transit

280-606: The Incorporated Guardians of the Poor, which were created by special acts in the 17th century. Turnpike trusts were an early and popular special purpose authority in England. Internal drainage boards are current examples in parts of England and Wales. The state of Illinois leads the nation in the number of special districts with California close behind. State counts of their special districts may differ from

308-416: The M.S. Golden Gate . Service to Larkspur started in 1976. Service to Pacific Bell Park (now Oracle Park) started in 2000. Tiburon service began on March 6, 2017, replacing service that had been run by Blue & Gold Fleet and other private operators since 1962. Service to Chase Center began in 2019 using an interim terminal located at Pier 48½. A permanent Mission Bay terminal is expected to open in 2021 at

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336-653: The United States are founded by some level of government in accordance with state law (either constitutional amendment, general law, or special acts) and exist in all states. Special districts are legally separate entities with at least some corporate powers. Districts are created by legislative action, court action, or public referendum . The procedures for creating a special district may include procedures such as petitions , hearings, voter or landowner approval, or government approval. Tribal governments may create special districts pursuant to state law and may serve on

364-538: The United States follow the English custom. The earliest known general law in England authorizing special purpose authorities was the Statute of Sewers of 1532. Single purpose authorities created by individual charters also existed at the time. However, the early authorities were temporary and unconnected to local government structure. The first laws authorizing permanent authorities connected to local governments were

392-557: The board also serve on the Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit board of directors, and operations are coordinated between the two agencies. Official website Special-purpose district The United States Census counts government units across all States. This includes "special districts". To count the special districts the Census must define the special districts so as to address all such governmental entities across

420-1043: The board. The board of a special district serves primarily as a managing board and often appoints a chief executive for day-to-day operations and decision making and policy implementation. In the New England states, special districts are often run in the same town meeting fashion as other local governments. Most districts have employees, but some districts exist solely to raise funds by issuing bonds and/or by providing tax increment financing . Special districts perform many functions including airports , ports , highways , mass transit , parking facilities , fire protection , libraries , parks , cemeteries , hospitals , irrigation , conservation , sewerage , wastewater treatment , solid waste , fiber optic systems , stadiums , water supply , electric power , and natural gas utility . Special districts are authorized by state law and must have public foundation, civil office , and public accountability . Special districts in

448-403: The boards of special districts. Special districts, like all public entities, have public foundation. The landmark case of the U.S. Supreme Court addressing public versus private charters was Dartmouth College v. Woodward in 1819. Dartmouth established the fundamental differences between public and private organizations. Critically, a government must be founded by all of the people of

476-463: The bridge's construction bonds were retired in 1971, with principal and interest raised entirely from bridge tolls. A mix of tolls, transportation subsidies, and grants is used to support bus and ferry services. The District has a 19-member board of directors : The District is headquartered in San Francisco and has administrative offices in San Francisco and San Rafael . Two members of

504-407: The broad spectrum of 50 states' definitions and interpretations. The Census's full definition is: Special district governments are independent, special purpose governmental units, other than school district governments, that exist as separate entities with substantial administrative and fiscal independence from general purpose local governments. As defined for Census Bureau statistics on governments,

532-495: The foot of 16th Street to replace the nearby interim Chase Center terminal. The agency began operating ferries to Angel Island in December 2021. Golden Gate Ferry operates regular passenger ferry service on four routes: Limited service operates from Larkspur to Oracle Park for San Francisco Giants baseball home games and from Larkspur to Chase Center for Golden State Warriors basketball home games. Supplemental service

560-746: The less conspicuous tasks of mosquito abatement and upkeep of cemeteries. The Census Bureau classification of special district governments covers a wide variety of entities, most of which are officially called districts or authorities. Not all public agencies so termed, however, represent separate governments. Many entities that carry the designation "district" or "authority" are, by law, so closely related to county, municipal, town or township, or state governments that they are classified as subordinate agencies of those governments in Census Bureau statistics on governments, and are not counted as separate special district governments. In order to be classified as

588-579: The monohull ferries. The Napa (formerly Snohomish ) and Golden Gate (formerly Chinook ) were purchased from Washington State Ferries in January 2009. In late 2018, Golden Gate Ferry reached an agreement to lease the MV Millennium from Rhode Island Fast Ferry for one year for $ 2.5 million. The Millennium allowed full service to continue while the Marin and Sonoma underwent major work and

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616-653: The monohull vessels can carry 150 bicycles. All ferries have restrooms and on-board refreshments, including a full bar. The monohull vessels are named M.S. Marin , M.S. San Francisco , and M.S. Sonoma . The Marin can carry 750 passengers, and the San Francisco and Sonoma can carry 630 passengers each. They were purchased from Philip F. Spaulding & Associates in San Diego in 1976–1977. They were originally powered by gas turbine water jets but were converted to diesel engine propeller drives in 1983–1985. More efficient diesel engines were installed in 2001-2002. The Marin

644-497: The other ferries received regular maintenance. The Millennium remained in service until 2020 before returning to Rhode Island. When the M.S. Golden Gate retired in 2004, she had made 42,108 round trips between Sausalito and San Francisco, carried 21 million passengers, and traveled nearly 1.3 million nautical miles (2,400,000 km; 1,500,000 mi). Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District

672-538: The power to tax) to special districts and can allow them to act autonomously with little supervision. There is little information available on the earliest special districts in the United States. It is known that park districts existed in the 18th century. Toll road and canal corporations existed in the 19th century. The first general statute authorizing irrigation districts was adopted by California in 1887. The U.S. Census Bureau began identifying and collecting data on special districts in 1942. Special districts in

700-620: The state or by independent local governments; therefore, they are classified as subordinate agencies of those governments. Special districts serve limited areas and have governing boards that accomplish legislatively assigned functions using public funds . Each district is governed by a board of directors , commissioners , board of supervisors , or the like. These boards may be appointed by public officials , appointed by private entities, popularly elected, or elected by benefited citizens (typically, property owners). Sometimes, one or more public officials will serve as an ex officio member on

728-518: The term "special district governments" excludes school district governments as they are defined as a separate governmental type. Special district governments provide specific services that are not being supplied by existing general purpose governments. Most perform a single function, but in some instances, their enabling legislation allows them to provide several, usually related, types of services. The services provided by these districts range from such basic social needs as hospitals and fire protection, to

756-629: Was incorporated on December 4, 1928, as the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District to design, construct, and finance the Golden Gate Bridge . The responsibility of regional transit service within the Golden Gate Corridor was given to the District on November 10, 1969, at which time it was given its current name. The District's territory includes the City and County of San Francisco ; Marin , Sonoma , and Del Norte counties; and large portions of Napa and Mendocino counties. The only other county along

784-406: Was refurbished from November 2006 to July 2007. The catamarans are named the M.V. Del Norte , M.V. Golden Gate , M.V. Mendocino , and M.V. Napa . The Del Norte has a capacity of 400 passengers while the other three vessels have a capacity of 450 passengers. The 1998-built Del Norte and 2001-built Mendocino were built for Golden Gate Ferry to allow faster and more frequent service than

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