The Derwent Ferry service between Bellerive and Hobart is celebrating three years of operation since its launch in 2021.
Clarence Mayor Brendan Blomeley described the ferry’s success as “outstanding”, noting that over 360,000 passengers have used the service since its initial one-year trial period.
“That’s all those cars taken off the road. All those cars not accessing the Tasman Bridge. It’s done wonders for congestion and clearly there’s a demand for the service,” he said.
Transport Minister Eric Abetz said “well over” 100 people boarded a single ferry from Hobart to the eastern shore on Friday morning, with an average of 500 passengers using the route daily.
“And that is why we as a government committed under the 2030 Strong Plan to expand the ferry service to Wilkinson’s Point, to Sandy Bay and somewhere in Lindisfarne,” he said.
“It’s a great service and as a government, we have been delighted to partner with the Mayor of Clarence who has championed this service from the very beginning. The commuters love it, the population love it. It’s a great success.”
Blomeley said the Lindisfarne expansion will be “absolutely fantastic for communities”.
“We know, from listening and engaging with that community, that there’s a great deal of demand for the service and what better way to travel to work than on a ferry on the majestic River Derwent,” he said.
Abetz said the design and planning phases for the expansions are already underway.
“It is hard to tell how many people will access the service, but I think as we’ve seen from this trial, it started off relatively slowly and it’s now a great success.”
“What we need to do and this ferry service has achieved it, is to have reliability and certainty. Once people know that reliability and certainty are there, that they can get to and from their job on time, then that’s what’s going to be the attraction.”
