Primary cilia play essential roles in signal transduction and development. The docking of preciliary vesicles at the distal appendages of a mother centriole is an initial/critical step of ciliogenesis, but the mechanisms are unclear. Here, we demonstrate that myosin-Va mediates the transportation of preciliary vesicles to the mother centriole and reveal the underlying mechanism. We also show that the myosin-Va-mediated transportation of preciliary vesicles is the earliest event that defines the onset of ciliogenesis. Depletion of myosin-Va significantly inhibits the attachment of preciliary vesicles to the distal appendages of the mother centriole and decreases cilia assembly. Myosin-Va functions upstream of EHD1- and Rab11-mediated ciliary vesicle formation. Importantly, dynein mediates myosin-Va-associated preciliary vesicle transportation to the pericentrosomal region along microtubules, while myosin-Va mediates preciliary vesicle transportation from the pericentrosomal region to the distal appendages of the mother centriole via the Arp2/3-associated branched actin network.