How does the future look for the Port of Oakland?

The Director certainly sounds optimistic:

Despite the challenges, he said the port is well positioned to meet the future.

“I would be concerned if we were not taking a proactive approach about addressing the challenges we face and meeting the opportunities,” he said.

There’s certainly a lot of challenges facing the Port of Oakland, and this article does a pretty good job of giving readers a broad overview:

First, it costs importers, exporters and vessel owners more to use Oakland’s maritime terminals than it does to ship through at ports in Southern California and Seattle.

To make matters even more challenging, Oakland’s port is repaying a lot of debt while revenue is not keeping pace with its needs.
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Oakland is losing in the competition for shipper traffic from California’s southern ports, as well as Seattle, in large part because those locations have easy access to rail routes, which helps facilitate ground shipping of products flowing into the ports.

A 1997 report to the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce said the port was not performing up to its full potential because transcontinental connections for rail and carrier transport was constrained. A remedy for these limitations has not been addressed, the report said.

The Oakland port — which Oakland officials often call the city’s “economic engine” — has poor rail connections through Donner Pass, Martinez and Tehachapi, the gateways the local cargo depend on.

I think Oakland has a good future as Los Angeles / Long Beach congestion continues and costs there begin to rise. That’s provided the Port can make some smart decisions when it comes to finances and operational efficiencies, not to mention avoiding some of the same mistakes and issues in Los Angeles / Long Beach that can impact the attractiveness of the port.