Post by ferryfast admin on Apr 9, 2005 22:34:56 GMT -5
NZ: Ferry terminals offer tickets to ride
09.04.05
by Chris Barton
www.nzherald.co.nz/
ARTNL
www.artnl.co.nz/
Part Two:
It's a similar story with Fullers, which has no plans for new boats despite calls by ARTA and others to expand services to places such as Beach Haven, Hobsonville, Howick, St Heliers, Panmure, Browns Bay and Takapuna. Ideally, Fullers needs another 400-passenger catamaran like Kea to increase frequency and provide backup on the Devonport run, but at about $4.5 million for such a boat it's not being considered.
"We are almost at capacity on three or four routes now," says Hudson. "But we still can't justify building new plant because the cost of boats has gone up so much."
Auckland's newest service to West Harbour shows how precarious running a ferry service can be. When the motor blew up on a refurbished boat (formerly Yellow Water Taxis) it was the last straw for the operator who had been struggling to make the service and another to Beach Haven viable. Fullers, in partnership with the boat builder, put a rescue package together and applied for emergency funding from ARTA. West Harbour is now running four commuter sailings a day - one already at capacity (30 passengers) - and is bringing a second boat on to the run.
Fullers' Hudson says ARTA's tendering process for new ferry services is flawed because it doesn't take into account qualitative aspects and the true cost of running back-up boats. There's also not enough incentive to give operators security through the contract to invest.
"You would be quite brave and bold to build one or two boats and tender for a service when you could lose that contract in five years."
The issue points to a wider problem - that Auckland's commercial ferry operators are reluctant to invest in loss-making runs to build up patronage. Enter ARTA, which subsidised ferry services by $1.4 million last year. This year's proposed subsidy budget is $2.1 million including $223,000 for Pine Harbour, and $325,000 for Birkenhead and Northcote Point.
Compared with buses and rail, ferries are poor cousins. For 2005 rail is likely to get $40 million and buses $52.7 million in subsidies. On the face of it, buses do look most deserving - with 45.2 million boardings last year, compared with 3.76 million for ferries (including Waiheke Island) and 3.2 million for trains.
But looking out to the expanse of the Waitemata Harbour, the question many Aucklanders, especially ferry commuters, ask is: "Why don't we use this vast natural water roadway better?" The Herald poses a similar question to ARTA: Would more ferries solve Auckland's traffic woes?
"The short answer is no," says ARTA passenger transport planning manager Fergus Gammie. "Auckland's traffic woes are spread far and wide - the question is what is the role of ferries ... and what are the types of market they can best serve?"
While ARTA is developing a new ferry strategy and looking at developing new services to Hobsonville and Greenhithe, it's clear its main focus is on buses.
"Buses are generally a lot cheaper to run than ferries for carrying the same number of people and where you have got a busway, buses become very efficient and you can move high numbers through a corridor and have a much lower operating cost."
Gammie is concerned that promoting ferries could adversely compete with other means of public transport. "Ferries could move reasonable numbers, but when you start to trade off the fact that we've got a big Northern busway and a transit lane at Onewa Rd, these sorts of things compete for a certain market in terms of their geography."
Brown disagrees, saying more ferries could make a huge difference to Auckland's motorway congestion. "It's a great way to travel, it gives people an alternative. People use public transport if they have options and frequency. The argument that you don't put ferries along the east coast [Brown's Bay and Takapuna] because they've got a bus lane is ridiculous. Don't just look at cost per passenger - look at the economic benefit of ferries."
He's talking about an overall benefit - not just in reducing road costs, but also in terms of tourism, jobs, and environment. Obvious really, but a vision that's been lost in Auckland's fixation with the car.
09.04.05
by Chris Barton
www.nzherald.co.nz/
ARTNL
www.artnl.co.nz/
Part Two:
It's a similar story with Fullers, which has no plans for new boats despite calls by ARTA and others to expand services to places such as Beach Haven, Hobsonville, Howick, St Heliers, Panmure, Browns Bay and Takapuna. Ideally, Fullers needs another 400-passenger catamaran like Kea to increase frequency and provide backup on the Devonport run, but at about $4.5 million for such a boat it's not being considered.
"We are almost at capacity on three or four routes now," says Hudson. "But we still can't justify building new plant because the cost of boats has gone up so much."
Auckland's newest service to West Harbour shows how precarious running a ferry service can be. When the motor blew up on a refurbished boat (formerly Yellow Water Taxis) it was the last straw for the operator who had been struggling to make the service and another to Beach Haven viable. Fullers, in partnership with the boat builder, put a rescue package together and applied for emergency funding from ARTA. West Harbour is now running four commuter sailings a day - one already at capacity (30 passengers) - and is bringing a second boat on to the run.
Fullers' Hudson says ARTA's tendering process for new ferry services is flawed because it doesn't take into account qualitative aspects and the true cost of running back-up boats. There's also not enough incentive to give operators security through the contract to invest.
"You would be quite brave and bold to build one or two boats and tender for a service when you could lose that contract in five years."
The issue points to a wider problem - that Auckland's commercial ferry operators are reluctant to invest in loss-making runs to build up patronage. Enter ARTA, which subsidised ferry services by $1.4 million last year. This year's proposed subsidy budget is $2.1 million including $223,000 for Pine Harbour, and $325,000 for Birkenhead and Northcote Point.
Compared with buses and rail, ferries are poor cousins. For 2005 rail is likely to get $40 million and buses $52.7 million in subsidies. On the face of it, buses do look most deserving - with 45.2 million boardings last year, compared with 3.76 million for ferries (including Waiheke Island) and 3.2 million for trains.
But looking out to the expanse of the Waitemata Harbour, the question many Aucklanders, especially ferry commuters, ask is: "Why don't we use this vast natural water roadway better?" The Herald poses a similar question to ARTA: Would more ferries solve Auckland's traffic woes?
"The short answer is no," says ARTA passenger transport planning manager Fergus Gammie. "Auckland's traffic woes are spread far and wide - the question is what is the role of ferries ... and what are the types of market they can best serve?"
While ARTA is developing a new ferry strategy and looking at developing new services to Hobsonville and Greenhithe, it's clear its main focus is on buses.
"Buses are generally a lot cheaper to run than ferries for carrying the same number of people and where you have got a busway, buses become very efficient and you can move high numbers through a corridor and have a much lower operating cost."
Gammie is concerned that promoting ferries could adversely compete with other means of public transport. "Ferries could move reasonable numbers, but when you start to trade off the fact that we've got a big Northern busway and a transit lane at Onewa Rd, these sorts of things compete for a certain market in terms of their geography."
Brown disagrees, saying more ferries could make a huge difference to Auckland's motorway congestion. "It's a great way to travel, it gives people an alternative. People use public transport if they have options and frequency. The argument that you don't put ferries along the east coast [Brown's Bay and Takapuna] because they've got a bus lane is ridiculous. Don't just look at cost per passenger - look at the economic benefit of ferries."
He's talking about an overall benefit - not just in reducing road costs, but also in terms of tourism, jobs, and environment. Obvious really, but a vision that's been lost in Auckland's fixation with the car.