Could Ferries be part of the public transport solution for Canberra?

By Emily Morris - 24 July 2014 32

canberra

In Saturday’s Panorama magazine, Chris Wallace suggested that Canberra would benefit from a ferry system (as transport as much as a tourist attraction), with ferries every 15 minutes in daylight hours to connect the National Museum, ANU, New Acton, the National Library and Gallery, Kingston Foreshore and Russell Hill.

In light of current debate over Canberra public transport and the need to connect the North and South sides of the Lake, it’s not the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard.

It seems to me potentially a much simpler and cheaper form of transport which may be of more use, particularly if ACTION buses connected at each ferry stop.

The lake certainly is beautiful and if I could connect between some of the stops listed above, probably something I would use.

In my time away from Canberra, I don’t know if this is something that has been raised and chucked as an idea before or whether it has been proven unfeasible.

I defer to my knowledgeable rioters for opinion…

Tags Chris Wallace Ferries for Canberra

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Could Ferries be part of the public transport solution for Canberra?

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davo101 9:08 am 31 Jul 14

dungfungus said :

It exists! Jet powered too with an open roof.
http://www.maritimejournal.com/news101/power-and-propulsion/centas_sounds_of_silence_for_amphibious_jet_bus

It’s also a lame duck which is a good stablemate for the white elephant (aka light rail)

Looks like it didn’t take off, which is a shame. It would have been cool to see ACTION buses taking short cuts across our lakes. Perhaps someone could manufacture them in Canberra under licence–I hear that some people think we need more industry.

bundah 6:51 pm 30 Jul 14

switch said :

bundah said :

Forget ferries that’s old-hat what we need is skyway gondolas….

Still waiting for those personal jetpacks we were promised back in the sixties.

Given that there’s many in power who have their heads in the clouds that would be right up their alley….

dungfungus 6:24 pm 30 Jul 14

JessicaGlitter said :

Two words: amphibious buses.

I would just buy a bus pass and spend the summer riding around. It would have to have an open roof of course.

It exists! Jet powered too with an open roof.
http://www.maritimejournal.com/news101/power-and-propulsion/centas_sounds_of_silence_for_amphibious_jet_bus

It’s also a lame duck which is a good stablemate for the white elephant (aka light rail)

JessicaGlitter 5:49 pm 30 Jul 14

Two words: amphibious buses.

I would just buy a bus pass and spend the summer riding around. It would have to have an open roof of course.

GardeningGirl 3:45 pm 30 Jul 14

Thanks for that davo101. And it carried bicycles too! What a cool idea, I wish it would of lasted.

davo101 1:12 pm 30 Jul 14

Maya123 said :

I was told years ago, by a now very elderly lady, who once worked at the ANU (for over thirty years), there used to be a ferry running between Yarralumla and the ANU. Exactly where to where to don’t know.

Here’s an article about it from 1966.

GardeningGirl 7:25 pm 29 Jul 14

Maya123 said :

I was told years ago, by a now very elderly lady, who once worked at the ANU (for over thirty years), there used to be a ferry running between Yarralumla and the ANU. Exactly where to where to don’t know. It was to bring workers to work. However, only about one person would regularly use the service, so it was cancelled. I did a quick google and found nothing about this. Does anyone else know anything about this?
A tourist service between the places mentioned sounds a good idea, at least for a trial.

I remember reading in a historical article somewhere about an ANU professor who used the ferry service to travel between his Yarralumla home and the ANU. It was the first I’d heard of such a thing, I suppose the demand wasn’t great enough and it didn’t last long. IMO the idea has potential, if not yet then sometime in the future, for example a more pleasant way for tourists to get around the sights than driving around looking for a parking space or a nice commute from to Civic from places like Kingston.