Since Monday, Oct. 19, many weekday Golden Gate Ferry trips between Tiburon and San Francisco have run as buses. The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District blames "a mechanical issue." As of this week, the District's route page says the temporary weekday schedule stays in place "until further notice." It has extended that schedule through Oct. 30 and has not given a date for full ferry service to return.
This October outage is the fifth time this year that Tiburon sailings have moved onto the road. The reason it keeps happening has less to do with one broken boat than with how few boats can tie up at the Tiburon landing at all.
Two boats, shared by two towns
Golden Gate Ferry runs seven vessels. Four are high-speed catamarans: the M.V. Del Norte, Mendocino, Napa and Golden Gate. The other three are the older Spaulding-class boats Marin, Sonoma and San Francisco. The Marin Independent Journal reported in December 2025 that the catamarans were built in the late 1990s and early 2000s and run at 36 knots. The Spauldings date from the 1970s, top out at 20 knots, and would need nearly an hour for a San Francisco run.
The fast boats are where the trouble starts. Michael Hoffman, deputy general manager of the District's ferry division, told the Marin IJ that of the catamarans, "only two are able to serve Tiburon and Sausalito because of the way they are designed." The Ark reported the same limit and put it down to design differences among the boats.
The landing explains part of it. A 2024 District design presentation separates terminals that use upper-deck boarding ramps, such as Larkspur and San Francisco, from Sausalito and Tiburon, where passengers board on the main deck. When the District started weekday Tiburon commute service in 2017, it named the Del Norte as the main Tiburon boat and said the vessel's door had been modified "to better suit the landing in Tiburon."
So Tiburon depends on a pool of two boats, and Sausalito depends on the same two. If one is in the shop, the District has nothing to swap in that fits the Tiburon float, and the open trips go to Golden Gate buses.
Five notices since February
The District's rider alerts for 2026 show the pattern:
- Feb. 23: "Due to mechanical issues," three Tiburon departures ran as Golden Gate Bus trips.
- June 3: Select Tiburon trips ran by bus "due to a mechanical issue."
- Aug. 4 through Aug. 7: Another mechanical issue put trips in both directions on buses.
- Aug. 24 through Aug. 26: Planned maintenance meant scheduled bus substitutions.
- Oct. 19 onward: A mechanical issue, with the reduced schedule extended week by week.
None of these notices names the boat that was out or describes the failure. The spacing tells the story anyway. Four of the five outages followed a breakdown, and each one hit Tiburon's schedule directly because the route has no spare boat to fall back on. The District's own fleet page notes that the newest of its current high-speed catamarans is 25 years old.
What the temporary week looks like
The temporary weekday schedule on the District's route page still keeps some trips on the water. The ones that stay are the ones the shared fleet can cover.
| Direction | Still by ferry | By bus | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tiburon to San Francisco | 6:50 a.m.; 1:15 p.m. via Sausalito, arriving 2:05 p.m. | 8:10 a.m., 9:55 a.m., 11:50 a.m., 4:30 p.m. | None listed |
| San Francisco to Tiburon | 12:10 p.m., arriving 1:00 p.m. | 9:05 a.m., 10:55 a.m., 12:45 p.m., 3:50 p.m., 5:35 p.m. | 7:30 a.m. |
The early 6:50 a.m. ferry still runs. The midday Tiburon departure stops in Sausalito, which is the shared fleet showing up on the timetable: one compatible boat covering both small landings in a single trip. The schedule changes from week to week. The rider alert for Oct. 19 to 23 listed a 9:35 a.m. bus where the current page shows 9:55 a.m., so check the District's Tiburon route page on the morning you ride.
Riding the substitute
In Tiburon, the District lists the bus pickup at Tiburon & Main. In San Francisco, it's the bus stop at Embarcadero and Washington Street, not the ferry gates. The District says a bus trip can take up to 55 minutes depending on traffic.
Bikes are the tightest squeeze. Each substitute bus fits up to three bikes. The District's General Manager report for October lists 768 bicycles on southbound Tiburon trips in September. A rider with a bike on a bus-only week does better aiming for the 6:50 a.m. or 1:15 p.m. ferry.
Payment works differently too. The District tells bus riders to "tag on AND OFF with Clipper or contactless payment on Golden Gate buses." For comparison, a normal one-way adult Tiburon ferry fare is $8.50 with Clipper or contactless and $14 for a paper ticket. Youth, senior and disabled fares are $7, and Clipper START is $4.25. Contactless bank cards have worked since Dec. 10, 2025. Each rider needs their own card or Clipper account, and contactless taps are charged the adult Clipper fare. The District's regional bus fare table, in effect since July 1, 2026, lists the adult San Francisco to South and Central Marin bus fare as $7.20 by Clipper or $9 cash. The disruption notice doesn't say what fare the substitute trips charge, or whether a paper ferry ticket is accepted on the bus. Riders who usually buy paper tickets will have fewer surprises using a Clipper card or contactless tap during the outage.
The District sent the October rider alert as an emailed bulletin, and the Tiburon route page links to a signup for its monthly newsletter.
The boat being built to end the split
The long-term fix is already under construction. In November 2025, the District's board approved more than $118 million to start replacing the fleet, including a $92.4 million base contract with Mavrik Marine of Washington state for the first two vessels. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission's account of the program lists the milestones. The District issued Mavrik its notice to proceed on March 11, 2026. The keel of the first boat, the MV Liwa, was laid April 23, 2026. According to the District's Oct. 23 General Manager report, Mavrik finished the Liwa's hull sheeting the week of Sept. 28, and weld-out is underway.
For Tiburon, the key line on the District's New Ferry Build page is that "unlike the current fleet, the Liwa will be able to serve every route the District offers." The planned fleet is seven or eight identical 500-passenger catamarans. Hoffman told the Marin IJ that building every vessel the same way "really helps us keep our boats more available and on schedule." Once any boat can land at Tiburon, a breakdown elsewhere in the fleet no longer has to mean a bus at Tiburon & Main.
The timeline is long. The District expects the Liwa in service in 2028 and full fleet replacement by 2033, with the older boats retiring as each new one arrives. Until enough Liwa-class boats are running, Tiburon's weekday ferry depends on two aging catamarans, and the bus substitutions this year show what happens when one of them is out.
If the ferry is part of how you weigh life on the peninsula, whether you're planning a move within Marin or getting ready to sell, practical details like this belong in the conversation alongside price and square footage. Tiffany Knef is happy to talk through how Tiburon's commute options fit your plans. Schedule a free consultation.
