Just in terms of getting around, bikes blend seamlessly with water transit and offer greater extensions for land-based transport once at the ferry's destination. Just as bicycles improve access in urban centers and reduce our dependency for the automobile, ferries help open up previously run down, industrial sections of our bay front, such as at former military installations. This helps to renew urban spaces along our shorelines and offers an exciting new opportunity for sane urban growth and alternatives to suburban sprawl. Passengers can meet and socialize with others, enjoy coffee, have a drink, leisurely read a newspaper. Bicyclists can meet and network with bicyclists.
Ferries provide an ideal platform to celebrate and promote alternative transportation.
Just like bicycles, ferries have suffered through years of neglect brought on by decades of automobile-centric transportation policy. Just like bicycles, ferries are real-world, working examples of alternative transportation. The social experience around ferry travel provides and excellent means to stimulate our awareness of issues like automobile dependency, congestion, the need for transportation diversity, and quality urban space renewal.