Hobart Ferry plan

stevegj52 · Post by **stevegj52** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 12:04 pm

I have been reading in the Mercury on line about plans to establish ferry services on the Derwent. A great idea and should be considered by councils and governmemt. A ferry service would solve a lot of commuter problems in Hobart but would people use them as the people of Hobart love their car's and the council providing more car parks dose not help the situation. So it would have to be atractive for Hobarts commmuters and Metro needs to get on board as well to service the propposed terminals with services that time in with ferry departures now can Metro manage that ? and the use of tickets that can be used on Bus and ferry.This plan is a win situation for Hobart but will it happen as other plans seem to dissapear never to heard of again as government and council put it in the too hard basket with reasons why it cant be done(light rail a example), there are no excuses Just my opinion for what it is worth

Derwent · Post by **Derwent** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 10:13 am

MUST have linked tickets IMHO...

stevegj52 · Post by **stevegj52** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 11:54 am

Derwent wrote:MUST have linked tickets IMHO...

Exactly right Spike, only way it can work and why it needs government support and co operation from Metro.Other cities that are on waterfronts use ferries as part of their transport system so I cant see why not Hobart.

yoda · Post by **yoda** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 9:14 pm

stevegj52 wrote:Other cities that are on waterfronts use ferries as part of their transport system so I cant see why not Hobart.

Because at most (in very rare cases) it only takes 15 minutes to cross the bridge.

stevegj52 · Post by **stevegj52** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:06 am

Maybe so, but Hobart still needs to look at other modes of public transport other than Metro.But like other ideas that have been raised down there this will most likely end up in the to hard basket like the light rail idea.

royaltiger · Post by **royaltiger** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 2:00 am

Ferries are a lovely way to travel, but as warm and fuzzy as the idea might sound for Hobart, I suspect that the proposal lacks one thing - viability. All Australian state capitals are built on the water, yet only Brisbane & Sydney with mammoth waterside populations have a meaningful ferry system. Perth has a single route. The Mercury article postulated routes to Kettering, South Arm and Opossum Bay et al, hardly mega-population centres likely to fill a 100+ seat ferry. To be attractive to prospective commuters services need to be frequent and all-day, those centres just cannot support that. Even poplulation centres like Bellerive and Lindisfarne are so close to the city by road a ferry can offer no time advantage. There is little waterside infrastructure and even less room to build it (eg commuter car parks, new wharves).
Lets face it, Hobart is a small city with its people firmly wedded to the motor car. Traffic is not a major problem, and until it is, there will be no incentive to abandon the car for new public transport initiatives.

leyland clippers · Post by **leyland clippers** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:54 pm

Speaking to a ferry operator yesterday he said that the infrastructure would need to be in place before any ferry system could operate. Jetties would have to be built, car parks and bus stops etc would have to be in place. A ferry service was trialed to Opossum Bay but failed. Also the weather factor comes into it. The Derwent Estuary can cut up quite rough at times.

Tas Bus Nut · Post by **Tas Bus Nut** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 5:00 pm

leyland clippers wrote:Speaking to a ferry operator yesterday he said that the infrastructure would need to be in place before any ferry system could operate. Jetties would have to be built, car parks and bus stops etc would have to be in place. A ferry service was trialed to Opossum Bay but failed. Also the weather factor comes into it. The Derwent Estuary can cut up quite rough at times.

Who were you talking to Cpt Pugwash HIS boats would cut up in a bathtub OK, slight exaggeration