Study shows proposed Tauranga, Ōmokoroa, Mount Maunganui ferry services risks high costs

An aerial view of Ōmokoroa wharf, where a potential ferry service could start from. Photo / WBOPDC

Efforts to establish a ferry service in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty could be shelved after a feasibility study found a single trip on one proposed service could cost as much as $404 if patronage was low.

The findings have prompted a recommendation that commuters should rely on buses instead.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Public Transport Committee will meet on Tuesday to hear the findings of the study, carried out by transportation consultants MRCagney.

It comes after a case for a ferry service was put to the council as an option to reduce the number of cars on roads.

The study focused on three potential levels of service for three possible routes. These were a minimum service running five days a week during peak periods, a basic regular service and a high-quality service operating seven days a week .

The ferry routes were for Ōmokoroa to Tauranga, Mount Maunganui to Tauranga, and Ōmokoroa to Mount Maunganui then Tauranga.

A minimum ferry service from Ōmokoroa to Tauranga would cost an estimated $4.5m to buy and refit three vessels, plus $714,000 annually to run. A basic service would cost $46.5m with annual operating costs of $1.6m.

A high-quality service was expected to cost $76.5m to establish and $3.1m a year to operate. .

The proposed ferry route from Mount Maunganui to Tauranga would cost $9m to set up and $600,000 a year to run for a minimum service. A basic service would cost $32m and $1.1m annually while a high-quality service would cost about $56m and $1.9m a year .

The Ōmokoroa to Mount Maunganui to Tauranga service offered a minimum spend of at least $13mand $1.1m a year to operate. A basic service would cost $57.5m and another $1.9m a year to operate. A high-quality service between all three centres was expected to cost $87.5m and another $3.7m a year to operate.

The study also took into account the patronage estimates (mode share) with presumptions of either 5 per cent, 20 per cent, or an “aspirational” 50 per cent of travellers using a ferry. Passenger estimates were used to calculate the fares needed to make each service viable.

Based on 5 per cent of travellers using the Ōmokoroa to Tauranga service, fares would range from $93 to $404 per passenger trip depending on whether it was a minimum or high-quality service.

At 20 per cent, the fares ranged from $23 per passenger trip to $101, and at 50 per cent it ranged from $9 to $40.

The figures did not take into account likely annual vessel or wharf costs, which were expected to potentially double the fares.

MRCagney said 50 per cent of travellers would need to use the ferry for it to be viable.

A second-hand small vessel such as this one was among the options considered as part of a potential ferry service for Tauranga.

Tauranga’s existing public transport usage (mode share) percentage was about 1 per cent, compared to 2-5 per cent in similarNew Zealand cities, according to the Tauranga Transport Strategy 2012-2042.

A ferry trial last year was described by passengers as “superb”.

MRCagney said plans for a lane for vehicles with three or more people in them on the Ōmokoroa Rd approach to State Highway 2 and planned roading and public transport improvements were expected to cannibalise ferry service demand.

In Auckland, Fullers charges a minimum of $27.50 per trip to Waiheke Island. In Wellington, an Interislander trip to Picton costs $68.

In a report, to be presented to the committee, transport planning manager Oliver Haycock and principal adviser Bron Healey said there were “significant cost barriers to ferries”.

The investment needed was “unlikely to justify such investment for a mode that is only useful to travel to a single destination”.

“In the short to medium term, it would seem prudent to continue the work already under way to make best use of the existing bus-based public transport network supported by appropriate levels of priority and infrastructure.”

Haycock and Healey said the option of future ferry services should be preserved.

Sustainable Bay of Plenty's Glen Crowther. Photo / John Borren

Sustainable Bay of Plenty’s Glen Crowther said the organisation had always thought that Tauranga CBD to Mount Maunganui ferry services was a great idea, especially over summer, but the financial case had to stack up.

Crowther said, that with basic service ferry costs reaching more than $100 and $200 per trip, buses and rail seemed to be better options.

“The bus service can be affordable, because that ... cost is split between bus fares, regional council rates, and NZTA [Waka Kotahi] - and there’s lots of potential to improve services and get more people onto buses, significantly reducing that cost per trip. Whereas, taking the feasibility study at face value, a publicly funded ferry service would be unaffordable.”

Crowther said there were a lot of people calling for a feasibility study into passenger rail which would be “faster and even more reliable”.

“It’d service a much wider area and could pick up a lot more passengers along the way. Hence we think there should be a similar feasibility study looking at passenger rail options - so we can see, once and for all, whether that’s a viable option.”

It was recommended the committee agrees to defer any further investigation of Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty ferry services until the development of the 2027 long-term plans and the 2027-2030 National Land Transport Programme.

Tuesday’s meeting will be held at Regional House from 9.30am and is open to the public in person or online via livestream.