FULLERS FERRIES: WE'RE CAUGHT IN FUNDING WASH
5 March 2008
JENNY KEOWN
Infratil-owned Fullers Ferries is pushing for more funding from the Auckland Regional Transport Authority for service development.
Chief executive Donald Hudson said ARTA had an "appetite to fund more services".
Hudson said the city's authorities needed to realise his firm was carrying a tenth of the commuter traffic in Auckland.
"We already carry almost as many passengers in Auckland as the rail service, and with the right support we can carry many more."
ARTA planned to spend $113m over the next 10 years on the development of the ferry system but the funding wasn't guaranteed and was subject to approval by the Auckland Regional Council and Land Transport New Zealand.
About $64.9m is set aside for an operating subsidy for Fullers and $48.8m for improvements to infrastructure. By comparison, ARTA intended to pour $2.84 billion into rail and $1.75b into bus.
Of the three main public transport modes in Auckland - bus, ferry and rail - the bus service annually carried 42.9m, 5.24m people travel by train and 4.2m on ferries.
Fullers said it could carry about 18% more people in five years' time, or 718,000 people a year. The company was planning new routes along the East Coast Bays to Takapuna and on to the CBD, a service to the eastern beaches, and another service down the Tamaki River to serve Panmure, Point England and Glendowie.
If these went ahead patronage could jump to 21% or almost a million passengers.
All-weather shore facilities, parking and feeder buses were needed to make better use of the harbour and gulf to battle congestion on the roads, said Hudson.
(c) 2008 The Independent Business Weekly
Source: The Independent Financial Review
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