SAN FRANCISCO – East Bay ferry commuters on Friday got some very special surprises during their evening commutes on one San Francisco Bay Ferry line. Soon, other commuters on other lines may get the same treatment.          

Sweet, soothing music

Beyond the beautiful views and cocktails, folks who took the ferry between San Francisco and Richmond on Friday evening got an extra treat; something they haven’t done in more than two decades: live music.

Lolah, a San Jose solo artist and band member, sang songs for fans and Friday commuters to their surprise and delight. “I think it’s very entertaining after a long day at work, and it makes the ferry really enjoyable compared to BART,” said commuter John Schmidt.

Jess Jenkins read about it online. “It’s a little bit out of my way. Yeah, but I was excited to try and check out the live music on the ferry. I think making public transit attractive to use is like, yeah, great for everybody,” said Jenkins. “Fantastic. I mean this is the most beautiful city in the world, sunset, a little music. What more could you want in the world?” said passenger Josh Bamberger.

Commuter and artist Marco Sorenson sketched Lolah. “It’s great. This was a real surprise tonight, fascinating; on the boat anyway, so this adds a little extra,” said Sorenson.

The singer loves her art and audiences. It’s an opportunity for musicians like me because we want to go out there and share your work, your art. So you feed on the energy from the audience and the audience feeds from the energy from you,” said Lolah who books her gigs through Lolahentertainment.com.

Bay ferries had music before

Twenty-five years ago, before the dot-com crash, it was a spontaneous twice-a-month Friday event. “It was just a group of enthusiastic ferry riders from Oakland that put it all together. So, it gathered a following. People would come, get on the boat and just never get off the boat, just continuously two round trips, and we were grateful for it,” said three-year SF Bay Ferry Captain Tim Patrick.

Ultimately, it interfered with the evening commute. “And then we kind of put a stop to it because it became too successful,” said Caprain Patrick.

This time, SF Bay Ferry itself is sponsoring even to bolster ridership at commute time as well as on weekends. “We’re definitely kind of testing the waters, experimenting with what we’re able to do in a venue such as the ferries; beautiful and scenic,” said SF Bay Ferry spokesperson Teo Saragi.

What’s next:

On Friday, January 16, entertainment will be provided by a DJ between the city and Vallejo. 

The Friday after, Lolah returns. “We’re also in the process of brainstorming potential trivia nights or comedy nights,” said spokesperson Saragi.

What was successful 25 years ago, could become successful again on a much bigger ferry system with a lot more lines, because people love live music, they love the ferries; throw in a cocktail and call it a party.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie told CBS News Friday that he was able to convince President Trump in a phone call several months ago not to deploy federal agents to San Francisco.

In a live interview with “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil, Lurie, a moderate Democrat, said that the president called him while he was sitting in a car.

“I took the call, and his first question to me was, ‘How’s it going there?’” Lurie recounted.

In October, sources told CBS News that the president was planning to surge Border Patrol agents to San Francisco as part of the White House’s ongoing immigration crackdown that has seen it deploy federal immigration officers to cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans and most recently, Minneapolis.

At the time, the reports prompted pushback from California officials, including Lurie and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

However, shortly after that report, Mr. Trump announced that he had called off the plan to “surge” federal agents to San Francisco following a conversation with Lurie.

“I spoke to Mayor Lurie last night and he asked, very nicely, that I give him a chance to see if he can turn it around,” the president wrote in a Truth Social post on Oct. 23. The president also noted that “friends of mine who live in the area called last night to ask me not to go forward with the surge.”

“I told him what I would tell you,” Lurie said Friday of his October call with Mr. Trump. “San Francisco is a city on the rise, crime is at historic lows, all economic indicators are on the right direction, and our local law enforcement is doing an incredible job.”

Going back to the pandemic, San Francisco has often been the strong focus of criticism from Republican lawmakers over its struggles in combatting crime and homelessness. It was voter frustration over those issues that helped Lurie defeat incumbent London Breed in November 2024.

Lurie, however, acknowledged that the city still has “a lot of work to do.”

“I’m clear-eyed about our challenges still,” Lurie said. “In the daytime, we have really ended our drug markets. At night, we still struggle on some of the those blocks that you see.”

An heir to the Levi Strauss & Co. fortune, Lurie also declined Friday to say whether he supports a proposed California ballot initiative that would institute a one-time 5% tax on the state’s billionaires.

“I stay laser-focused on what I can control, and that’s what’s happening here in San Francisco,” Lurie said. “I don’t get involved on what may or may not happen up in Sacramento, or frankly, for that matter, D.C.”

Thursday marks one year in office for San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie.

Lurie was elected in the 14th round of ranked choice voting in 2024, beating incumbent London Breed.

His campaign centered around public safety and revitalization of the city.

Mayor Lurie is also celebrating a significant drop in crime; late last week, the police chief said crime hit historic lows in 2025.

• Overall violent crime dropped 25% in the city, which includes the lowest homicide rate since the 1950s.
• Robberies are down 24%.
• Car break-ins are down 43%.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins spoke with NBC Bay Area about this accomplishment. Watch the full interview in the video player above.