Hong Kong has numerous outlying islands that are relatively underdeveloped due to isolation from the urban core and are dependent on ferries. Concurrently, the Hong Kong Government has expressed a desire for outlying islands to be places for urban expansion and has proposed building more bridges, tunnels, and reclaimed land. Development of these fixed links may transform the outlying island communities' current ways of life. Ferry operators struggle to maintain efficient operation, fleet investments, improved services, and attract passengers while competing with fixed link transport modes. Urban ferry transport has been resurgent in parts of Europe, North America, and Australia, but not Hong Kong. This paper identifies a new typology of island communities according to connectivity based on available transport links. Using census and ferry statistics, the socioeconomic development of island communities is analysed. The transport problems faced by outlying islands are further conceptualised, and possible scenarios for socially sustainable island futures are proposed.
Urban linear ferry systems are an emerging form of public transport in cities worldwide. This paper investigates travel behavior of passengers using CityCat ferries in Brisbane, Australia. We investigate 1,675,821 ferry trip fare transactions made over a six month period using smart cards. Despite use of small vessels and only offering one main route around 2.3% of all paid public transport journeys in the city are made on CityCat and related cross-river ferries. The ferries are used more for commuting and university trips during the weekday with significant patronage in the am and pm peak periods. They have consistent use on weekend days. Despite strong use most users are infrequent patrons, suggesting that leisure travel is a significant component of the system. Key terminals with high use rates include those where transfer to cross-river ferry services is possible. The system offers single-stop cross-river travel at many points. But only 15.8% of paid trips in March 2013 were made this way with 84.2% of trips going further up or downriver. Integration with other buses and trains is significant, with around 15% of all ferry journeys linked to another public transport mode. Further investigation into how users are accessing terminals as well as interactions with other modes of public transport is suggested. With expansion planned, the CityCat system has potential to contribute further to the city's public transport task. Converting a large number of infrequent riders to more habitual use could increase the system's patronage.
Why did Brisbane build busways? And what does the city's experience reveal about mode-choice decision-making and transport planning in Australian cities? This paper reports on the processes and decisions taken to introduce bus rapid transit (BRT) in Brisbane in the 1990s with specific focus on the styles of planning involved. Using theoretical frameworks provided by Innes and Gruber, Forester, and other planning theorists, different planning styles are identified. These concepts are used and tested in the case of the South East Busway, Brisbane's first and very successful introduction of BRT. The research involved archival reviews of reports, plans and media articles showing the development and adoption of busways in Brisbane, and interviews with politicians, state and local government bureaucrats and consultants involved in the decision as well as a key independent observer who was critical of the project and its planning. The results suggest that Brisbane may never have adopted BRT without a clear political champion in Brisbane City Council, who intuitively adopted BRT as a 'solution' for Brisbane and who directed a strong bureaucratic effort to co-opt and win support from others including the then state transport minister. Technical-rational analyses were used only to help support pre-determined positions, not to provide mode comparison and assessment for a later mode selection decision. There was no real community social movement supporting the move, and negligible collaborative planning involved. The results highlight how during recent decades planners have shifted away from traditional technical/analytical roles to become facilitators of politically motivated decisions in the transport decision-making process, and the risks and benefits this provides.
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