Manly: Ferry queues down the Corso, as social distancing enforced
Plans are being made to manage Manly commuters if and when they return to work, as operators discuss the possibility of queues for the ferries backing down the Corso.
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Plans are being put in place to manage Manly ferry commuters if and when they return, with talk there could be queues going down the Corso to accommodate social distancing.
Manly Fast Ferry managers met with MP James Griffin to discuss the various possibilities before children return to schools next week.
“There could be lines creeping down the Corso,” a Manly Fast Ferry spokesman said.
“We need to manage our queues with everybody else’s.”
The new regulations will mean that the ferries will only be able to take a quarter of their current capacity.
The Manly Fast Ferry spokesman said numbers of passengers per ferry will vary depending on the size of the boat, with the largest ferries taking 380 people normally.
The private operator NRMA has also begun taking out seating to ensure passengers are sat 1.5m apart when they get on.
Meanwhile, the other major mode of public transport for the peninsula is buses where passenger numbers will also be restricted.
Standard buses will carry 12 people, bendy buses 16 and B-Line buses 25.
Designated school buses will operate as usual with no social distancing required.
Mr Griffin said the government is expecting some people to continue to work from home for a bit longer and others to avoid rush hour which may help.
“Anecdotally I am hearing that there won’t be a significant increase in commuters when children go back to school next week, like you would see after the school holidays,” he said.
“But we think numbers will begin to increase.”
He appealed for people to be patient if they are queuing as it will probably look worse than it is, with every passenger waiting 1.5m from each other.
“People should expect it to be a bit different to what it is like normally,” Mr Griffin said.
“We are hoping people will understand why we are doing it and we can keep that good will going.”
The Manly Fast Ferry spokesman also said he was waiting to see what passenger numbers will look like after a more than 95 per cent drop since the pandemic began.
However, despite the low numbers he said the fast ferry has continued to run throughout the COVID-19 crisis and will continue to do so with no timetable changes.
“There are no kind of government subsidies to cover our losses,” the spokesman said.
“We continue to run the ferry service – we wore that cost.”