Portarlington ferry secures extra funding, while Geelong waterfront future remains unclear

Bellarine ferry services have been secured, but Geelong residents want more transport options between the city and Melbourne. VOTE IN OUR POLL.

Port Phillip Ferries Geelong Flyer.

The Bellarine's ferry service has been secured for at least another year under a $2.55m state government cash injection.

But it remains unclear if the Geelong ferry will see an enhanced service, weeks after a City of Greater Geelong report found residents wanted additional trips.

Victorian Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll said on Tuesday funding for Portarlington service would continue for at least another 12 months.

Port Phillip Ferries chief executive officer Murray Rance told the Geelong Advertiser it was “great to see the government supporting local services”.

“It is a massive show of support for communities in the area,” Mr Rance said.

“We’ve been seeing the commuter market grow over the last number of years.”

The service, launched in May 2017, has in the last month returned to pre-Covid peaks, attracting more than 100,000 users in the last 12 months.

Mr Rance said the news wasn’t just a positive for the Bellarine commuter, with the service seeing plenty of Melburnian tourists travelling to Portarlington.

“You’ll find that (the service) has had a massive impact on (Bellarine) businesses, for the positive,” he said.

“So we’re enormously pleased that the government has seen fit to extend the funding.”

Chief Executive Officer of Port Phillip Ferries Murray Rance. Picture: Peter Ristevski

Port Phillip Ferries has not ruled out the possibility of an enhanced waterfront service, however it remains unclear if it will ever happen

Mr Rance said options would be investigated.

“What we have to do now as a business is sit down and say, ‘OK, we’ve got funding for Portarlington, what can we now look to do for Geelong?’,’” Mr Rance said.

“That’s just a matter of us working through statistics, and then having a look at what the take up’s been.

“Then we will go to the public and ask them what they want, because there’s only certain things you can do with a certain amount of funding.”

Upgraded waterfront ferry services were among a list of recommendations made to council in a survey regarding the future of Geelong’s waterfront.

Between April and May, council generated more than 600 community contributions, Wadawurrung Traditional Owners, as well as Geelong Youth Council and other community groups were also consulted as part of the report in order to update the city’s 2011 Waterfront Masterplan.

Services between Geelong and Docklands currently only run once a day each way on weekends, with some extra Friday night services catering for AFL games at Marvel Stadium, services also run every day over school holidays.

Ferry fares are about twice as expensive as V/Line, and leave from Docklands in the morning and Geelong waterfront at night, only accommodating day trips from Melbourne.

Greater Geelong City Councillor Eddy Kontelj said the ferry service could be an important way to combat the time spent by commuters travelling between Geelong and Melbourne.

“Travel between Melbourne and Geelong is becoming more difficult, which is costing people time and productivity,” Mr Kontelj said.

“Extra transport is good for commerce, and the ferry could be a way to do that.”

This comes after the G21 predicted Geelong drivers would spend 60,000 more hours on the road by 2041.

Originally published as Portarlington ferry secures extra funding, while Geelong waterfront future remains unclear