F. Waiver of Comment Period
Section 311(d) provides that the Commission shall issue its decision not sooner than 30 days following filing and service on this proposed decision. The parties have waived this 30-day waiting period and the filing of comments on the proposed decision.
1. Red & White has provided public utility common carrier of passenger vessel commute service on San Francisco Bay between Richmond and San Francisco since September 27, 1999.
2. Red & White holds authority to provide other services which are either under suspension or no longer operating.
3. The current service of Red & White is two morning trips from Richmond to San Francisco and two return trips in the late afternoon.
4. Red & White seeks suspension of its commute service claiming lack of passengers to warrant continuation at the present time.
5. The average passenger count per vessel since inauguration of service is less than 45 and shows no sign of increasing.
6. Red & White has made a sincere effort to increase patronage by various marketing strategies.
7. Protestants claim that a different marketing strategy would have increased patronage.
8. Red & White has been losing money since the inception of service and its parent, Golden Gate, no longer wishes to finance these continued losses.
9. Protestants do not dispute losses but do dispute the extent of the losses claimed by Red & White.
10. Because of the manner in which the inter-corporate books of account are maintained, it is not possible to determine the precise extent of any loss suffered by Red & White, though it is possible to find that the commute operation has never operated at the break-even point.
11. In the present application, filed July 18, 2000, Red & White first notified the Commission and its passengers that it intended to suspend commute service. The application does not contain a specific date that it wished the suspension to begin.
12. It was not until September 1, 2000 that Red & White announced that it wanted to suspend service after the last trip on September 28, 2000.
13. Red & White had actually determined to suspend the commute service in March 2000 or earlier, due to "large operating losses" from that service.
14. At the time of these large operating losses, Red & White sought permission to operate a weekend service from Richmond to Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco and urged the Commission to rely on financial information that did not show these losses.
15. There is little chance of profitable operation of the commute service without some form of government subsidy.
16. Protestants argue that without an existing carrier in operation and committed to operate for at least two years, there is little hope of obtaining a subsidy, but offered no rule or regulation or testimony from a governmental agency to support this contention.
17. Red & White owns the float, ramp, and pilings at the Richmond dock. Richmond owns all other facilities.
18. Red & White is willing to negotiate with another carrier for the use of these facilities. If negotiations are not successful, the facilities are moveable.
1. Since Red & White has continued to operate the commute service during the pendency of this proceeding in accordance with the ruling of the Assigned Commissioner, there is no need to determine whether there is an absolute right to cease service if a state of "cashlessness" exists.
2. Red & White has made reasonable efforts to market its service and to obtain a subsidy.
3. Red & White has been incurring substantial, though not precisely proven, losses in the commute operation for one full year. We conclude that it need not continue to provide money-losing service.
4. There has been no proof in this proceeding that an existing operator with a two-year commitment is necessary to obtain a governmental subsidy.
5. Losses incurred by Red & White after its proposed suspension date of September 28, 2000 are due to its delay in filing this application from at least March 2000 to July 18, 2000.
6. In order to place all potential competitors for the Richmond-San Francisco commute service, the Pacific Bell Park service, and the USS Hornet service on equal footing, we shall revoke Red & White's certificate for these operations, rather than merely suspend them.
7. Red & White's motion for suspension prior to this decision should be denied.
IT IS ORDERED that:
1. Red & White Ferries, Inc.'s (Red & White) tariff filing to reduce service to one round trip per day is denied.
2. The authority granted to Red & White to operate common carrier vessel service between San Francisco and the USS Hornet by Decision (D.) 98-09-003, and suspended by D.00-04-056, is revoked.
3. The authority granted to Red & White to operate common carrier vessel service between Richmond and Pacific Bell Park by D.00-05-011 is revoked.
4. The authority granted to Red & White to operate common carrier vessel commute service between Richmond and San Francisco by D.98-02-008 is revoked.
5. Red & White shall cease service no earlier than the last trip from San Francisco on Wednesday, November 22, 2000.
6. Red & White's motion for immediate suspension of operations is denied.
7. The evidentiary file in this proceeding shall remain under seal for two years from the effective date of this order.
8. Application 00-07-034 is closed.
This order is effective today.
Dated November 21, 2000, at San Francisco, California.
LORETTA M. LYNCH
President
HENRY M. DUQUE
JOSIAH L. NEEPER
RICHARD A. BILAS
CARL W. WOOD
Commissioners
