Article: City Council launches free CBD ferry service on Brisbane River from Sun

[ozbob]

From the Couriermail click here!


ALL ABOARD: One of the City Hopper services. Picture: Sarah Marshall Source: The Courier-Mail
http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2012/04/22/1226335/442899-city-hopper.jpg

City Council launches free CBD ferry service on Brisbane River from Sunday

City Council launches free CBD ferry service on Brisbane River from Sunday

    by: Sarah Vogler
    From: The Courier-Mail
    June 26, 2012 9:58AM

BRISBANE residents and tourists will have access to a free ferry service on the Brisbane River from Sunday.

The City Hopper ferry loop was a $6 million election commitment made by Lord Mayor Cr Graham Quirk in April in a bid to provide a free service and keep the historic monohull ferries in use.

Three historic CityFerries rebranded as the red and white CityHopper.

Cr Quirk said he hoped the service would provide a boost for the local tourism industry.

"By providing a free ferry service in Brisbane's inner city, we hope to encourage more residents and visitors to enjoy the river and local destinations like South Bank, Kangaroo Point, the CBD and New Farm," Cr Quirk said in a statement.

The service will run every half hour, seven days a week from 6am to midnight.

It will follow the current Inner City Ferry route stopping at New Farm (Sydney Street), South Bank (Terminal 3), North Quay, South Brisbane (Maritime Museum), Kangaroo Point (Dockside, Holman Street and Thornton Street) and the Brisbane CBD, with the total journey from Sydney Street to North Quay taking about 45 minutes.

"Rather than compete with CityCats, which are our fast and frequent public transport service around the river, CityHoppers will allow people to take in the city by day or the city's lights by night at a slower pace," Cr Quirk said.

"I want to bring them back to the fore and using them to spearhead a free ferry tourism loop will go a long way to achieving that."

He said about 50 per cent of passengers using the city's ferries were already doing so for tourism or leisure.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Team Quirk ‏@Team_Quirk

Council's new CityHopper river ferry is almost complete! The free inner-city ferry service starts July 1. http://pic.twitter.com/a5IsdyoP

[somebody]

Good.  Removing this slow and rather useless service from Translink funding can only be a good thing.  Question is I wonder how long it will last?

[Golliwog]

Is this just the North Quay to Sydney Street ferry, or does the free service also include the Holman Street/Thornton Street Cross River Ferry? With the Inner City Ferry these gave a ferry every 10 minutes crossing the river in the inner city, which will still happen with the Hopper, but it will be interesting to see if the loading patterns change if only every 3rd service is free.

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Hop to it: Free ferries to start Sunday

Hop to it: Free ferries to start Sunday
June 26, 2012 - 2:02PM

They may have been aimed at tourists, but locals would also be welcome to ride Brisbane's new free CityHopper ferry service and save on public transport costs from Sunday, lord mayor Graham Quirk said today.

Following the current Inner City Ferry route, the CityHoppers will stop at New Farm, South Bank, North Quay, South Brisbane, Kangaroo Point, and the Brisbane CBD, seven days a week from 6am to midnight, timetabled every half an hour.

That means residents usually travelling to work by CityCat could save up to $7.16 a day on their commute, or $687.36 a year if using an adult go card, and travelling from Sydney Street to the city for example.

Only three of the existing nine CityFerry monohull fleet will be transformed into red CityHoppers, and fare savings are offset by an extra cost in time.

The entire loop, from Sydney Street to North Quay, will take about 45 minutes.

"Rather than compete with CityCats, which are our fast and frequent public transport service around the river, CityHoppers will allow people to take in the city by day or the city's lights by night at a slower pace," Cr Quirk said.

"This initiative is similar to the red council buses that loop the CBD, and is consistent with my vision for Brisbane to become a more accessible city."

Touted in the lead up to the council election, the CityHoppers were estimated to cost $6 million over the next four years, including an initial outlay of $200,000 to paint the craft red and white and a projected revenue loss of $531,000 in the first year.

Cr Quirk justified the expense on the grounds the service would help promote local tourist destinations, reduce traffic congestion and give ferry patronage a "much-needed shot in the arm".

"I want to bring [the ferries] back to the fore and using them to spearhead a free ferry tourism loop will go a long way to achieving that," he said.

In the council's 2012-13 Budget, handed down last week, funding was also allocated for a new CityCat terminal at Milton, as well as upgrades to improve accessibility at other CityCat terminals throughout the city.

The new CityHopper route will stop at:

    New Farm (Sydney Street)
    South Bank (Terminal 3)
    North Quay, South Brisbane (Maritime Museum)
    Kangaroo Point (Dockside, Holman Street and Thornton Street)
    Brisbane CBD (North Quay)


Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/hop-to-it-free-ferries-to-start-sunday-20120626-20zl1.html

[ozbob]

http://jp.translink.com.au/travel-information/service-updates/details/1340849912

New CityHopper ferry

From Sunday 1 July, the new CityHopper service will make it even easier to 'hop' along the river.

The CityHopper will run every 30 minutes from 6am until midnight, seven days a week.

No need to touch on with your go card (or purchase a paper ticket) - travel free on the CityHopper from New Farm (Sydney Street ferry terminal) to North Quay, stopping at Dockside, Holman Street, Eagle Street Pier, Thornton Street, Maritime Museum, and South Bank 3 terminals.

CityHopper is funded by Brisbane City Council.

[Golliwog]

The 'New' Timetable: http://translink.com.au/resources/travel-information/network-information/timetables/120701-city-hopper.pdf

Identical to the previous ones, but the CityHopper services are highlighted in red.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Took a trip along the river yesterday and I saw a couple of the ferries. The boats look like crap with the red trim. Looks more like privatly owned boats rather than something that belongs to a PT network. Needs a proper paint job so hopefully the ones I saw were only in that livery transition phase.

[ozbob]

From the Brisbane mX 7th November 2012 page 6

Free ferry is hop-on river hit

[somebody]

Shows again that the problem is the fares policy.

Do 1.1 million people p.a. really use this crappy service?

[HappyTrainGuy]

From what I've seen it does get alot of people using it to cross the river for free. Hop on and hop off at the very next stop. South Bank to North Quay seems to be pretty popular.

[SurfRail]

Shows again that the problem is the fares policy.

Do 1.1 million people p.a. really use this crappy service?

No doubt a lot of people using it are tourists or daytrippers who are turned off the CityCat by the fares, which still hasn't returned to its former patronage or patronage growth levels.  It's not a particularly useful route to anybody, just not a hole in the pocket.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

8th November 2012

Fare fix

Greetings,

More evidence of the failing fares in south east Queensland.

As reported in the Brisbane mX yesterday, since the CityHopper ferries have gone free, patronage has increased 275%. ( http://backontrack.org/docs/mx/mx_7nov12_p6.jpg ).

Cr Matic is correct "It clearly shows a demand by Brisbane residents for more public transport accessibility."  Obviously, remove high price fares and patronage booms!

The entire public transport network in south-east Queensland can be revitalised.  Swallow your pride Minister Emerson, admit you got it wrong and fix the fares.

Our petition calling for a fare review can be found here -->  http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/fare-review-for-translink-south-east-queensland-now.html

Best wishes,
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Brisbane hops to free ferries