Westgate Punt
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Punt Timetable
The Spring and Summer weekend service resumes on Saturday 18 October 2008.
Weekend and Public Holiday Service: 10am – 5pm
For more information on extra operating hours contact the operator on 0419 999 458.
Ticket Prices
Tickets are $4 one-way or $6 return
Children under 10 free
Bicycles no charge
Bike punt trial winds up
The trial of a subsidised weekly commuter service for cyclists and pedestrians across the Yarra River closed at 7pm on Friday 2 June 2006, as a result of low patronage.
Since December 2005, Hobsons Bay City Council has administered a trial on behalf of a stakeholder group that subsidised a weekday commuter ferry service for bicycles and pedestrians that cross the Yarra River.
The stakeholder group that consisted of Hobsons Bay, Maribyrnong, Melbourne and Port Phillip City Councils, together with Parks Victoria, the Port of Melbourne Corporation and Bicycle Victoria, provided the cross-river trial transport in morning and afternoon peak times on working days.
After four months of operation, and despite considerable publicity, usage rates have remained below 25 per cent, with a monthly average high of 61 passengers per day in March, the highest usage recorded to date.
Bill Jaboor, CEO of Hobsons Bay City Council, on behalf of the stakeholder group, said that with the onset of the cooler and wetter months and an expected further decline in patronage, it was decided that the trial service should be terminated.
'The stakeholder group has invested considerable time and money to encourage cycling as a means of fostering a healthier population,' said Bill Jaboor, on behalf of the working group.
'It is most disappointing that the demand for the service has simply not been sufficient to justify the significant subsidies paid each month.
'The decision to terminate the service is based on the responsibility of the stakeholders to provide the best possible amenities to the greatest number of people and at the lowest possible cost.'
General Manager of Bicycle Victoria, Mr Harry Barber, said the termination of the subsidy is recognition of the low demand for the service at this point in time.
'One day there will be a bicycle ferry under the Westgate Bridge that will be heavily used, but this trial has shown that such a day has not yet arrived,' said Mr Barber.
Stakeholders will seek expressions of interest for the provision of a more permanent commercial service in the future.
A Business Plan is being prepared that will incorporate all relevant information on the trial. This will be incorporated into an information package that will be made available to operators that may be interested in putting in a proposal to operate the services in the future.