Bruny Island residents are dealing with “nightmare” wait times of up to two hours for a 15-minute ferry to and from island after SeaLink introduced a revised winter timetable last week.
The schedule changes have caused significant afternoon congestion, impacting families, workers and schoolchildren travelling between the island and mainland Tasmania.
Locals say the biggest issue is the lack of balance in service frequency throughout the day, with too few afternoon and evening departures from the island.
Busy parents have been hit especially hard, with one describing how a simple football training trip has turned into a four-hour ordeal.
“We go off on a Thursday night for footy training to Snug and it’s a four-hour return trip just to do an hour of footy training,” the resident said.
“We need to leave straight from school to get to the ferry to try and make the 3:50pm ferry, which we have been missing since the cuts to the timetable, even when we are there at 3:40pm.”
“We then catch the 4:20pm ferry and because there’s no 6:10pm or 6:30pm ferry, we now have to wait until 7pm.”
Even school excursions have been affected. A local parent said students and their bus returning from a recent trip were denied priority boarding, despite prior assurances they’d have it.
Joe Bennett, a long-time island resident and member of the ferry reference group, said the delays are affecting a broad cross-section of the community.
“It’s been very frustrating for everybody down here,” Bennett told Local Radio.
“For the parents trying to get their kids to sports, it’s a nightmare to get off the island. You’re sometimes waiting up to an hour, two hours, just to get somewhere.”
SeaLink has acknowledged that mid-to-late afternoon peaks are causing congestion and blamed some of the delays on a temporary increase in oversized vehicles due to works happening on the island.
The company said the reduced winter timetable was based on travel data and developed in consultation with the state government.
But residents argue the island’s popularity means demand remains steady year-round, regardless of the season.
Bennett said the reference group is working with SeaLink to find solutions and their top ask is more afternoon services.
“What we want to see is just a few more services to alleviate that congested time in the afternoon, just to get people off the island,” he said.
“We’d all like to have an islander lane, but look, I don’t think that’s an option … more services is all we really need.”
SeaLink has asked residents for patience while people adjust to the new schedule, but it has yet to announce any changes.
