As BART Transbay Tube remains closed this weekend, ferry ridership is increasing across the Bay Area.
Ferry officials told NBC Bay Area that ridership is up by 24 percent from a regular weekend between Okaland, Alameda and San Francisco. There is also a 6 percent increase between Vallejo and San Francisco.
"I would take BART any day of the week," Ferry rider Rachel Zarilla said. "But this is faster and I didn’t want to sit in traffic for an hour."
For commuters not using the ferry, shuttle buses are set up around 20th and Broadway in Oakland, moving people in and out of the city.
About 90 people are working on the tracks over the weekend, BART spokesman Jim Allison said. Workers are replacing aging crossover tracks and worn railing. Allison said the project is worth two million dollars.
"This is something that’s understandably an inconvenience to a lot of people, but we absolutely need to get it done," Allison said.
Despite the Transbay Tube closure, BART is running smoothly, even though ridership is only half of what it normally is for a weekend.
