Urban Ferry Systems: Planning, Development and Use of Contemporary Water-Based Transit in Cities

Urban Ferry Systems: Planning, Development and Use of Contemporary Water-Based Transit in Cities Author Tanko, Michael John Published 2017 Thesis Type Thesis (PhD Doctorate) School Griffith School of Environment DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/528 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/366444 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au Urban ferry systems: Planning, development and use of contemporary water-based transit in cities Michael Tanko Bachelor of Urban and Environmental Planning (Hons) Cities Research Institute School of Environment Griffith University December 2016 Thesis submitted to the Griffith University School of Environment for the award of Doctor of Philosophy Supervisors: Associate Professor Matthew Burke Dr Barbara Yen Professor Pan Haixiao Urban ferry systems: contemporary planning, development and use of water-based transit in cities ii Urban ferry systems: contemporary planning, development and use of water-based transit in cities Key words Ferries, water transit, public transport, ferry oriented development, economic benefits, transport planning, policy innovation. iii Urban ferry systems: contemporary planning, development and use of water-based transit in cities iv Urban ferry systems: contemporary planning, development and use of water-based transit in cities Abstract Increasing population growth in urban areas has led to significant problems, stretching the limits of existing urban transportation systems. While once playing a critical role in transport in the early development of cities, water transport has since declined sharply in relevance with increases in bridges, tunnels and the widespread proliferation of automobiles. But land based mass transit systems are often reaching capacity. These issues have led to a resurgence of interest in the use of urban ferry services as transport corridors along currently underutilised waterways. Cities such as Brisbane, New York, London, Gothenburg and Bangkok have operating urban ferry systems which play an important role in the transport functions of each city. In order to provide a better understanding of the operation of water transport services, their wider impact and the implications for their inclusion in future city planning, this thesis investigates key issues for planning this form of transport. This thesis involves five pieces of discreet work under three phases of research which together seek to achieve this objective. An introduction in Chapter 1 provides an overview of how and why such water transport services have been introduced and the ways in which this innovation was developed, particularly in terms of the contemporary linear route configuration. It spells out the research gaps, the thesis research questions, and the overall approach and methods of the study. Five published and submitted papers then follow, inserted into the text as ‘chapters’, each of which is preceded by introductory remarks to help maintain continuity and to guide the reader through the narrative arc of the thesis. The first phase of the research responded to transport planning questions around why such systems are being planned and implemented. Chapter 2 explores the introduction of the CityCat ferry system in Brisbane in the late 1990’s. It was found that a strong political champion and supporting coalition of bureaucrats and other key actors, aided by fortuitous circumstances and timing, allowed this unfamiliar mode to be implemented in Brisbane. The system was a key element in the concurrent citywide dialogue of re-imaging Brisbane as a ‘river city’, amongst other supporting policies. The system has since become an integral part of the transport network in Brisbane. Significantly, it has evolved from its initial transport and tourism functions, to play an important economic catalyst role in urban waterfront development plans as part of an ongoing waterfront urban renewal agenda in Brisbane. v Urban ferry systems: contemporary planning, development and use of water-based transit in cities Chapter 3 takes this case study and expands it to a global context and investigates a subset of compatriot systems worldwide, including examples from North America (New York), Europe (Copenhagen and Gothenburg) and Asia (Bangkok). The study found that while similar in operation, urban ferry systems were introduced for a number of reasons dependent on the individual context of the city. Ferry systems usually displayed a primary reason for implementation, but also provided key secondary supporting roles that in many cases were critical in the introduction of such systems. For instance, where transport service capacity alone did not warrant proceeding, economic development factors (as in Brisbane) and tourism and city branding functions (as in Copenhagen) were found to be important considerations underpinning the development of water transit. The research suggests that the assessment, planning and implementation process of developing urban ferry services need to be considered within a wider context of city planning in order for an accurate assessment of the applicability of such a system to be made. With an understanding of how urban ferry systems came into operation and the function they serve, phase two of the thesis moved to respond to questions about how such systems are actually being used in an urban transport context. This was achieved through two studies looking in depth at the CityCat system in Brisbane using available smart card transaction data. Firstly, Chapter 4 provides the first published study of urban ferry travel patterns using smart card data. It investigates travel time and frequency, transfer between other public transport modes, and importantly, how people are using services in the context of a linear configuration as opposed to previously operating cross river only services. The results indicate that although it is a minor mode of transport in Brisbane (3% of all trips), the CityCat ferry system provides significant transfer between modes, with 15% of all ferry journeys incorporating other modes such as rail or bus. It was also demonstrated that passengers were actively using the linear nature of the system with 84% of all journeys incorporating a journey longer than two stops, up or down river. This finding shows empirically for the first time that efforts toward combining ferry terminals in an adaptation of Transit Oriented Development (TOD), as Ferry Oriented Development (FOD), have been successful in replicating the ‘pearls on a string’ development model of water transport. vi Urban ferry systems: contemporary planning, development and use of water-based transit in cities Chapter 5 goes further in exploring this data to assess what premium value, if any, an urban ferry system has within a public transport network. It asks why people use water transit when in many cases a quicker bus alternative that serves the same origin-destination pairs is available. It hypothesises, based on existing theoretical studies, that water transport may offer users increased amenity value. The study design includes a comparison of selected origin- destination pairs and uses smart card transaction data to compare the journeys of bus and ferry passengers between these pairs. A logistic regression model was used to assess the variables that passengers considered when choosing directly between these modes. The results demonstrate the presence of excess travel in the journeys, where users were shown to choose ferry trips despite longer travel times (time coefficient = 2.779, OR= 16.103). Ferries were also chosen despite a lower frequency of departures (frequency coefficient = -0.143, OR=0.867), and were more popular in the AM peak period (coefficient= 2.25, OR= 9.487). This is the first known study to empirically establish and quantify the additional amenity benefits that urban ferry systems provide compared to other modes using revealed travel behaviour analysis. Moreover, Chapter 5 gives further support to the suggestion in Chapters 2 and 3 that urban ferry systems are inherently different to other urban transit modes and should be planned taking these additional, unique factors into consideration. Finally, the third phase of the research sought to look toward the future role of urban ferry services in cities and ask how they can be planned in the future and what factors are important in their implementation for ongoing success. A particular focus was in terms of integration with other transit modes. To achieve this, Chapter 6 used a case study of the Chao Phraya Express Boat service in Bangkok, Thailand. Bangkok is currently undergoing a period of rapid transit modernisation, including investment in a large scale rail expansion program that threatens the role of boat services in Bangkok, which have traditionally not enjoyed the same level of support as rail services. This provided an ideal case for assessment of how urban ferry systems may find their place within existing and newly planned urban transport networks. The study finds that unlike other cities such as Brisbane and Copenhagen, which have identified the wider role water transit can play and which have leveraged this to achieve other objectives, Bangkok has not yet undergone this transformation. With a longer operating history of linear ferry routes and lack of development, the services are seen as antiquated and not fit for further investment. This is in contrast with the modernist view of rail

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