Woodstock, the Water Shuttle service between Jack London Square in Oakland and Bohol Circle Immigrant Park in Western Alameda, hasn't had a good 2026 so far. The little yellow boat was scheduled to be taken out of service until January 2 for painting and an inspection during the holiday break, but that grew into a longer suspension. From the city of Alameda:
Woodstock needs to have some additional maintenance work completed, so the current service disruption will take a bit longer than originally anticipated. At this time, it's expected that there will be no water shuttle service though Wednesday, Jan 7, with regular service anticipated to resume by Thursday, Jan 8. [Update Jan. 8: confirmed—Woodstock service has resumed!]
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"Coast Guard staff identified a few corrective measures that needed to be taken with regards to the hull. We are working with a local marine repair yard to complete those repairs," said Thomas Hall, a spokesperson for Water Emergency Transportation Authority, which operates the free service. On Wednesday, January 7, Hall confirmed they are "currently on track" to have the Oakland Alameda Water Shuttle back in operation Thursday.
In the meantime, regular riders have had to find alternate ways to get across. "I saw the news about the shuttle and it's frustrating," said Bike East Bay's Robert Prinz.
"The Water Shuttle is truly making it feel like the Jack London and Alameda waterfronts are connected," said Savlan Hauser of the Jack London Improvement District. "When service is down for even a few days, our merchants and commuters really miss it."
It also points, again, to the need for a second boat and a fully funded service to create a dependable connection for people not in a car. From Streetsblog's view, the "pilot" service has proven the demand for a crossing aside from the Webster and Posey car tunnels. The little boat, which only carries 30 people, runs infrequently, regularly has to be taken out of service, and carried over 100,000 people in just its first year of operation. A second boat seems like a no-brainer, as well as a dedicated, purpose-built dock to speed up operations.
"While we don’t have an update on securing a second boat, this is something we are exploring as well as electrifying the water shuttle," said city of Alameda spokesperson Sarah Henry.
"I know the process for assembling funding for the water shuttle, and then actually acquiring the vessel and getting approvals, was extremely complex," added Prinz.
