Article: Melbourne begins Sydney-style ferry study

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From the Melbourne Age click here!

Melbourne begins Sydney-style ferry study

Melbourne begins Sydney-style ferry study
May 5, 2012

Melbourne has set sail towards a Sydney-style commuter ferry service for its gridlocked western suburbs.

But critics have poured cold water on the idea, calling on the state government to focus on existing public transport - not a fleet of ferries that could be a decade away or longer.

Victoria Planning Minister Matthew Guy announced on Saturday that a $300,000 study will examine the feasibility of running Port Phillip Bay ferries from Melbourne's growing west into the CBD.

"There is water transport in Sydney, Auckland, Istanbul, San Francisco, so it's not uncommon," he told reporters.

"There's no reason why we shouldn't be optimising our bay, using the bay for greater means."

The City of Melbourne is backing the feasibility study, hoping it will be another way to transform the under-used Docklands precinct into a mini-Circular Quay.

Sydney has been running ferry services for more than 100 years, while Brisbane operates a smaller fleet of river vessels.

But Melbourne's history with such services, including a previously abandoned Geelong-to-Melbourne plan, has been dismal.

Daniel Bowen, president of the Public Transport Users Association, said commuters want fast, frequent and reliable service.

But he questioned if a ferry in Melbourne could ever deliver on all three, especially because the city's layout would make it difficult for a ferry to be as quick as land transport.

"The more urgent need is to improve the existing rail service," he said.

Opposition planning spokesman Brian Tee said the study is a desperate attempt to draw attention away from the state budget, which contained no new funding for western bus services or major roads.

"The traffic is just getting worse and worse," he claimed.

"People will not be fooled by this. It won't solve problems now."

The study will look at using a private company, with ferry terminals at Werribee South, Point Cook, Altona and Williamstown for services into Docklands or near Flinders Street Station.

Under the terms of reference, the service would be viable only if a trip takes under an hour, has reasonable ticketing costs and could attract enough passengers.

It could take up to a year before a consultant comes back to the state government with a final feasibility report.

AAP

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/melbourne-begins-sydneystyle-ferry-study-20120505-1y5eb.html

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From the Melbourne Age click here!

Bay ferries would struggle to be feasible, study finds

Bay ferries would struggle to be feasible, study finds
Tom Arup
May 30, 2012

A STATE government plan for commuter ferries on Port Phillip Bay may need massive taxpayer subsidies to be viable, studies have suggested.

Planning Minister Matthew Guy has commissioned a new $300,000 study into a transport ferry route from Werribee to the Docklands - with stops at Point Cook, Altona and Williamstown - to help ease West Gate Freeway traffic congestion.

A study for the Department of Transport in 2008 - seen by The Age - found commercial transport ferries on Port Phillip Bay would lose thousands of dollars a day.
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It also said ferries were unlikely to significantly reduce traffic on east-west roads.

The 2008 report looked at the viability of Geelong to Melbourne and Portarlington to Melbourne ferry routes, with stops at Werribee also considered.

It did not consider whether a route solely between Werribee and Melbourne would be profitable. But it found the fastest travel time between Werribee and the city would be 56 minutes in good conditions, and more likely 65 minutes.

The review concluded the estimated travel time between Werribee and Melbourne was ''unlikely to be comparable to the same route via public transport which can achieve travel time of around 35 minutes''.

Another Transport Department study in 2010 found there would not be enough passenger demand.

Mr Guy dismissed the studies as ''piecemeal'' as they had only studied Station Pier in Port Melbourne as the ultimate city destination. Mr Guy said the state government was only interested in looking at Docklands.

Labor ports spokesman Tim Pallas said the former government had looked at the prospect of ferries extensively and found it unrealistic.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/bay-ferries-would-struggle-to-be-feasible-study-finds-20120529-1zheh.html