Marin Giants Fans Pack onto Golden Gate Ferry for Parade

Bay Area transit officials are reporting that crowds headed to the San Francisco Giants' World Series victory parade are at least as big as the ones that showed up for the championship parade two years ago.

Golden Gate Transit ferries carried just under 13,000 people to the 2010 parade, and spokeswoman Mary Currie said the agency "is expecting we'll at least meet that number" for today's festivities. The ferry terminal's parking lot was full early Wednesday morning, with drivers finding parkinbg in nearby lots around the terminal, officials said. 

"The crowd has now finally dissipated -- it's mostly stragglers now," Currie said at about 10:30 a.m. "We're going to take a break because we haven't had one."

She said there have been no problems with the droves of jubilant fans going to celebrate their team's victory.

"The crowds have been really courteous and patient and festive," she said. "Everyone is very, very well-behaved."

As of 9:30 a.m., BART had recorded 160,338 exits from its system -- 13,406 more than the day of the 2010 parade, and roughly 55,000 more than an average weekday morning commute, BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said.

"We have very crowded platforms and stations and trains," Trost said.
There were five- to 10-minute delays systemwide because of the crowds this morning, she said.

Trost said BART will be operating on a rush-hour commute schedule for the entire day.

The parade starts at 11 a.m. near the foot of Market Street and will end with a celebration in Civic Center Plaza. Caltrain was also dealing with packed trains headed up the Peninsula to San Francisco this morning, spokeswoman Christine Dunn said.

Dunn said the agency ran seven extra trains during its morning service, including two express trains from San Jose to San Francisco with no stops in between.

"All trains have been very full," she said.

Dunn said Caltrain officials will monitor the situation when people leave after the celebration, and begin running trains every 15 minutes from the San Francisco station. The trains will stop at all stations, she said.

San Francisco Municipal Railway buses were also very crowded, with some full buses bypassing those waiting at stops. Muni spokesman Paul Rose said mid-morning, "We do have heavy ridership, but we're not overwhelmed at this point."

Rose said the agency anticipates that light-rail vehicles and buses will likely be more packed later today when the celebration ends and everyone leaves at once.

Several bus lines have been redirected from their normal routes on Mission Street, which closed around 9:30 a.m., and Market Street, which closed about an hour earlier, Rose said.

--Bay City News Service