New routes key to a working harbour for commuters
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday February 15, 2010
Manly to Bondi Junction? Extra boats and good bus connections will help integrate the city. Bret Walker, SC's, 2007 special commission report on Sydney ferries recommended smaller vessels and more frequent services, with capacity for the ferry service to experiment with new routes."None of these hoped-for developments can realistically happen unless a better fleet - new and well-designed for Sydney - is acquired to replace the present fleet," Mr Walker reported. "Otherwise, stagnant passenger numbers, mounting maintenance costs and problematic reliability will compound the present unsatisfactory state of affairs."This inquiry does not agree that no hoped-for developments can occur without a new fleet, but does agree that the existing fleet is an obstacle demanding leadership.Most importantly, though, Sydney's ferry service problems illustrate the need for integrated planning of all public transport modes.The failure to think in integrated terms has especially disadvantaged ferries, because ferries intrinsically rely on connections.So long as ferries continue to be thought about in terms of individual markets depending mainly on locally generated demand at each wharf, much of their potential will never be discovered.The local catchment around any public transport stop can be visualised as a circle of a fixed radius around the stop. For a ferry terminal, half of that circle is usually in the water, so the other half needs to be especially dense if the ferry is to have a market based solely on walking access.Ferry markets can be greatly extended, however, by reliable, well-marketed bus connections.These connections need to be either frequent - as is the case with some connections at Manly and Circular Quay - or else timed to the ferry schedule with the flexibility to wait if a ferry is delayed, as is already done on a limited way at several north shore wharves.Frequency is the best guarantee of good connections and the best way of ensuring high ferry patronage. Short routes are easiest to run frequently, so attention should focus first on markets where higher frequency could achieve dramatic improvements in travel times for significant numbers of people. These tend to require large passenger numbers able to walk to the wharf or get there by bus.As Barangaroo develops, the single strongest market may well be a direct link between Balmain East and Barangaroo - a route perhaps less than 500 metres.(Although the publicly released plans for the Barangaroo development show no ferry wharf at all, the inquiry understands one is being planned for the southernmost end of the development, close to the existing King Street wharf, so the distance from Balmain East might be greater.)Balmain East is a strategic site for a bus-ferry interface, because the Darling Street bus spine logically ends here and could support a high enough bus service frequency to make this an easy connection all day. Even some passengers from Rozelle and Leichhardt would find this a convenient way to travel to the northern CBD.Similar opportunities probably exist for other short routes among wharves across from the CBD, including McMahons Point and Pyrmont Bay. By contrast, Darling Harbour is an example of a wharf that is unlikely to support frequent services, because there are more direct land routes from there to most of the places a ferry could go.An aggressive "frequent ferry" strategy, then, would focus on short, competitive routes that can be run very frequently and can thus encourage spontaneous use. These opportunities are, of course, mostly around the CBD. What about Manly to Bondi Junction?Longer routes should retain services that have more of a peak and commuter focus, and should expect to retain or increase their current frequencies.Manly-CBD services would probably continue to be the strongest of these routes, because of strong bus connections at both ends, a proposed future light rail connection at Circular Quay and the lack of an attractive road route.Even at half-hourly frequencies, there may be cases where thinking about bus and ferries together, and operating them with an intense focus on good interchanges, would expand a potential market to the point of feasibility.The most obvious and intriguing possibility of this type would be a ferry from Manly to Watsons Bay or Rose Bay, integrated with timed connecting buses to Bondi Junction.The lack of any other option for direct travel between the northern beaches and the eastern suburbs might make this an effective and successful service despite the connection required, but only once bus and ferry services and fares are integrated.While markets such as this may seem peripheral, this is a chance to build a public transport market for which there is no road-based alternative. There may be similar opportunities elsewhere.Ferries running very frequently on short routes, such as around the inner harbour, might well be smaller than current boats and might not require two employees.Legal requirements vary, but New Zealand has single-employee ferries carrying up to 49 passengers on short runs on Auckland harbour. We do not endorse this but merely refer to it as an illustration of the scale and type of service needed on these dense inner-harbour markets.What we need, in effect, are buses on the water: public transport vehicles designed for a low unit operating cost and fast turnarounds so that they can be run frequently and intensively.An expanded ferry system would still have a growing workforce, even if the staffing of boats were reduced in line with best practice elsewhere.Insisting on the current staffing levels would leave the ferries in their current state: fun for tourists, useful for some commuters, but unable to really develop potential markets, especially around the inner harbour where opportunities are greatest.With a new fleet, it may be sensible to retain some or all of the existing smaller ferries for tourist purposes.These vehicles have considerable character and a long history. London, for example, continues to use some of its red double-deck "Routemaster" buses for tourist purposes.Will ofthe peopleWithin the limits of Sydneysiders' willingness to pay, and the government's willingness to repay, the responsible level of capital spending on new public transport would be in the order of $36 billion in today's dollars - meeting about 70 per cent of projects deemed desirable.The robustness of the majority of Sydneysiders - 62 per cent - in favour of high investment in public transport (even in the face of some high theoretical extra costs associated with the projects) highlights a willingness by its residents to get a city that functions.Airport lineThe government should buy out the private owner of the airport line stations or pay shadow fares in the same way it subsidises motorway tolls so that Airport Line station users pay only a standard fare. This would allow the airport line to be included in an integrated fare system.
© 2010 Sydney Morning Herald