A rather worrying article in today’s Herald that funding for the upgrade to Bayswater Wharf, and the construction of a wharf suitable for ferry services at Beach Haven, have been delayed. Here’s part of the article:
Extra Government investment in roads is being blamed for the disappearance of funding for two new Auckland ferry terminals.
The deferral of terminals for Bayswater and Beach Haven until the Government’s next three-year funding cycle – for 2012-15 – has been confirmed by the Auckland Regional Transport Authority.
That has prompted a claim by North Shore City’s representative on the Auckland Regional Transport Committee, Chris Darby, that ferry transport is being affected by the Government’s extra allocation of money to new roads.
The authority’s confirmation of the terminal deferrals came after Mr Darby complained of inaccurate information in an authority report to the transport committee.
The report said funding for a long-awaited $6.6 million ferry terminal for Bayswater had been approved and construction of a $2.8 million facility for Beach Haven had started.
This would seem to be yet another sad result of last year’s government policy statement, which shifted millions upon millions of dollars away from public transport and into building the seven roads of National significance.
Ferris are a pretty under-utilised method of transport for many parts of the city – particularly in Beach Haven I reckon, and therefore it’s a huge loss to see that ferry services between Beach Haven and the CBD will now not be able to be introduced for another few years. Beach Haven is linked to the CBD via Onewa Road, which is probably one of the most congested arterial routes in the whole of Auckland. Giving people there an alternative to Onewa Road is surely a good idea.
Surely?
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The cutting of funding is not good by why where ARTA continuing to say it was under construction, is the same under construction that is occurring for Onehunga?
Yes, I’m confused by the last paragraph too…
Yes good question Matt. That does seem rather strange from ARTA to ignore reality. I do wonder whether the same process is happening for Onehunga.
Has anyone been out there recently to see if there is any progress on constructing the station? Apparently the designation change is to be approved by Auckland City Council this week…
Just as I was starting to feel all positive about eden park and
trains(with or without CBD tunnel)..this ridiculousness.
Ferries are WAAAY underutilised in Auckland.
I’m not in auckland anymore but I used to use the half-moon bay
ferry…packed..and absolute cash cow for fullers.
i can’t remember if there was a te atatu ferry..that would(is?)
a cash cow too. beachhaven is perfect…build some carparks and
ferry servicing at the wharf and half-moon bay2.
$2.8 million doesn’t sound like a lot of money. Could the issue be that there is disagreement between Fullers and ARTA? Maybe Fullers are saying they don’t want to spend money on a new boat, or they can’t agree on the level of subsidies?
It would be a bad look to have an upgraded wharf and no boat.
As a Birkenhead resident in-exile I agree that Onewa Road is awful (Notwithstanding the very effective transit lane), and if this takes pressure off Onewa Road it would be money well spent.
It would possibly be the fastest PT trip relative to a private car in Auckland, so would surely be pretty well utilised.
Why would $2.8million NOT be a lot of money? After all, ARTA’s plans didn’t only lose out from the change in funding rations, they also had a hole of $202 million opened by the cancelling of the fuel tax… which was NOT filled by them agreeing to fund the electric trains, of course.
I was down at the CBD ferry terminal at the weekend. I was struck by how similar it is to Sydney with wharfs on either side making a sort of moon shape. Both have harbour to the north, CBD to the south, and it isn’t that far to the northern side of the harbour so you can see detail of buildings. Both have bridges to the west and busy roads between the terminal and the CBD, although in Sydney’s case the road is an elevated eyesore.
But Circular Quay has ferries coming and going every minute or two where as Auckland’s are few and far between. It’s a shame because it is a great way to get around and I wonder why it isn’t more popular in Auckland.
Sydney also has the Opera House on the eastern side of its ferry terminal, while Auckland has a couple of grubby old wharf buildings. Building Party Central or a cruise ship terminal isn’t going to compare, and I think Auckland needs to raise its game on the waterfront.
Good points obi. Sydney and Auckland have many similarities. I certainly hope that Queens Wharf can become the world class public space that the walk out to the Sydney Opera House is.
Obi, our ferries are subsidised $0.85 per passenger while Sydney’s are $6 a pop… Explains the lower level of services here… Also of all the forms of PT ferries are the least environmentally friendly… At about $45 odd million the council should seriously consider buying Fullers to stop the rort of Waiheke (and to a lesser extent other) commuters continuing, $45 million is about $2.7 million in interest a year at council interest rates…
Obi, Sydney is a lot bigger, and Auckland’s ferry terminals actually sees a lot of traffic.
Plus, we have significantly lower ferry subsidies too.