SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) – Before there were bridges or BART, there were people on one side of San Francisco Bay who needed to get to the other. In this Good Question: When did the first ferries begin crossing the bay?

ANSWER: According to local historian Joe Thompson, the first real ferry boats started crossing San Francisco Bay in 1850. They quickly became the main mode of transportation for commuters and eventually carried people, automobiles and trains.

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