Lost Ferry Service Is Indictment Of Arc Transport Planning. ARC Should Immediately Offer A Subsidy To Save This Service.

For months an independent operator has provided a ferry service from Beachhaven to the city without a subsidy from the ARC.

Now, because of that lack of subsidy, the operator has had to withdraw the service – just as two other public bodies, the North Shore City Council and Auckland Regional Transport Network Ltd [ARTNL] are preparing to re-establish the wharf for permanent ferry operations.

This situation is an indictment of the ARC and its ability to organise and expand an acceptable public transport system.

Originally the ARC refused to subsidise the service because the area was already served by a bus service. It is time the ARC revisited that decision urgently and approved funds to keep the service operating.

It will be months before the new transport supremo, Auckland Regional Transport Authority [ARTA], will be operating and ready to allocate funds for this service.

In my capacity as a member of the Glenfield Community Board I have emailed the ARC Transport Committee chair, Catherine Harland, to ask her to intervene urgently and provide a subsidy to keep the service running.

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