A report from 2019 has suddenly appeared on the WA Government website revealing how Perth’s ferry network could be expanded.
In an article published by WAtoday, the Department of Transport Ferry Service Current Status and Future Use report, quietly published four years ago, apparently popped up after the government moved over to a new website earlier this month.
In a nutshell, it identified locations along the Swan River which could support an expanded ferry service, including stops at Elizabeth Quay, Optus Stadium, Claisebrook Cove, Crown, Belmont Park, South Perth foreshore, Canning Bridge and Matilda Bay.
While previous reports, seven between 1997 and 2016, concluded that new routes weren’t feasible at the time, this one noted that those barriers weren’t as much of an issue because of new waterfront developments and ‘high-density nodes’ that now exist, which could better incorporate the appropriate infrastructure including links with existing train and bus public transport routes.
“Elizabeth Quay now exists as does the new Optus Stadium, and there are now firm plans to develop several high-density nodes around the river, albeit it could be some time before such plans are fully implemented,” the report read.
“The last study [2016] … noted that in future a ferry system on the Swan River linking intense developments such as Canning Bridge Precinct, Elizabeth Quay, Riverside, Claisebrook Cove, UWA and [Optus] Stadium would provide a net benefit to the overall public transport system.”
WAtoday reported that a spokesman for Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said the government had no current plans to expand the network.
