Bay Area commuters recall chaos during windy storm

SAN FRANCISCO – It was a nightmare commute Tuesday afternoon as excessive winds ripped by the Bay Space.

The Bay Ferry was pressured to cancel their journeys throughout peak commute hours. The winds additionally brought on hours-long backups on the Bay Bridge leaving commuters with few choices to make it residence.

Like many ferry commuters Tuesday, Gabe Weiss had one thought when he left his San Francisco workplace.

“I am not going to get on a ship proper now,” Weiss informed CBS Information Bay Space.

He documented giant waves with white peaks splashing onto The Embarcadero when he left work round 4 p.m.

Weiss has been commuting on the ferry into San Francisco for six years. He mentioned he has by no means seen circumstances like he did Tuesday, which prompted the ferry to cease service for hours.

“I can depend on one hand the variety of occasions that I’ve felt even barely queasy on a ferry experience. Even when it is raining exhausting, it is not like that,” Weiss defined. “After I seemed on the bay, it felt like I used to be wanting on the ocean.”

Commuters rapidly turned stranded amid excessive winds Tuesday, the gusts sturdy sufficient to overturn a big semi-truck on the Bay Bridge, halting site visitors for as much as six hours.

Emily Loper of the Bay Space Council says extreme site visitors congestion is barely going to worsen because the variety of commuters driving to and from the town is surpassing pre-pandemic ranges.

 “That is actually affecting employee productiveness and happiness they’re having to go away earlier and getting residence later,” Loper informed CBS Information Bay Space. “They’re spending extra time working and fewer time with their households.”

One system that remained in operation was BART, but it surely wasn’t with out its flaws. Riders reported important delays and experiences of trains dropping riders off earlier than their vacation spot to show round and decide up extra riders from San Francisco.

However Loper says the teamwork among the many transit authorities is a vibrant gentle in a windy day.

“I used to be actually blissful to see the transit operators working collectively to get individuals residence throughout the storm, when the ferries have been cancelled due to these actually treacherous waves. That BART and bus operators have been working collectively to get individuals again,” mentioned Loper.

Weiss had an identical takeaway. After hopping out of his rideshare that was at a standstill, he mentioned he went to BART to make it residence.

“As chaotic because it was, I ended up getting residence perhaps like 20 minutes later than I usually would,” Weiss defined. “If that is not a spotlight for San Francisco public transit, I do not know what’s.”