Wildfire Smoke Prompts First AQI Suspension Threshold Test for Ferries
Smoke from British Columbia wildfires reaching the Bay Area has triggered air quality advisories for open-air ferry terminals, where commuters have no enclosed-vehicle alternative during service suspensions. The Council is expected to codify operator-judgment AQI thresholds into formal suspension protocols before the next fire season.
The ferry system's exposure to smoke events is structurally different from road-based transit. Commuters waiting at open terminals or seated on open decks cannot shift to a car. Operators face judgment calls about visibility and air quality with no existing policy framework to fall back on. Today's smoke advisory is the most significant test of that gap since the expanded terminal network opened. A formal protocol has been drafted but not yet adopted.