The best tour of Sydney - and it only costs $15 with Opal Card

The Opal Card, Sydney's new electronic ticketing system, may have its critics, but if you want to take an inexpensive day tour of the city and its surrounds, nothing beats it. 

Monday to Saturday you can travel anywhere in Sydney with Opal for a maximum of $15 per day. On Sundays the cap is only $2.50. Even better, your travel is free if you've already made eight paid trips earlier in the week.

With the weather looking promising, the author set out yesterday on the ultimate Opal day tour. All trips were taken by ferry, but other modes could easily be integrated if needed.

Balmain East was the starting point. For the majority who live elsewhere, the first leg is a bus or train ride to Circular Quay.

Balmain East has stunning views towards the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Barangaroo Headland Park. The architecture is a mix of early colonial sandstone cottages and Victorian terraces, interposed with ugly apartment blocks from the 1960's and 70's. Residents are blessed by the fabulous Euforia Café on the corner of Darling and Johnston Streets.

The first Opal tap is at Darling Street Wharf on the F4 line for a 7:45 departure. There are two more stops, McMahons Point and Milsons Point, before the ferry sails under the Harbour Bridge and turns into Sydney Cove.

On a glorious Spring morning, is there a better sight in the world?

Manly

Transfer at Circular Quay to Wharf 3 to board the Manly Ferry for an 8:10 departure. The ride to Manly is the number one iconic Sydney ferry trip and an early start is recommended to avoid crowds on a warm day in school holidays.

After Bradleys Head is rounded, the sandstone cliffs of Middle Head come into view. The sight of the Pacific Ocean to the east is menacing, but the Outer Harbour is benign today. It is not always so. The sun is dazzling, the water is emerald green and Manly Cove looks pretty much like a tropical resort.

Highly recommended at Manly Wharf is a take away breakfast from Artisan Oats www.artisanoats.com.au . Steel cut oat porridge with rhubarb topping is only $4.50. Yum yum. Other toppings and bircher muesli are available. Enjoy it slowly at the Manly Cove water's edge.

From the wharf, head up the Corso to the surf beach. Turn right here and follow the promenade round to Shelley Beach for sun, sand, swaying casuarinas and water dragons.   

The essence of Sydney beach suburb culture is captured at Manly. It is most vivid on Sunday mornings when every possible element is on display - surf competitions, bustling cafes, Nippers, beach volleyball, joggers and cyclers, backpackers, old men with sun damaged leathery skin and melanomas, present or imminent.

But this ambience is also plain to the visitor on any warm sunny morning.

Stroll back to Manly Wharf and take the 9:45 ferry returning to Circular Quay.

Cremorne Point/ Neutral Bay

Transfer at Circular Quay to Wharf 2 and take the F6 ferry , departing at 10:30 for Cremorne Point. It's usually either a First Fleeter or a Lady boat. Cremorne Point is only 10 minutes away. You may see another water dragon here, but that's where the similarity with Manly ends. This part of the trip introduces the visitor to the sedate, well heeled Lower North Shore. 

After leaving the wharf, head left past the bus stop and take the walking track along the edge of Shell Cove. A highlight is the beautifully restored historic Macallum Pool. The walking track ends at Bogota Avenue. Continue on Bogota Avenue, then turn left at Honda Road, right at Billong Street and left at Kurraba Road. Pause outside Hollowforth at 146 Kurraba Road, a superb example of Federation architecture in an Art Nouveau style.

At this point, the traveller has a choice. If it's Wednesday to Sunday, you can visit May Gibbs Nutcote House www.nutcote.org in Wallaringa Avenue; or keep walking along Kurraba Road to the access point for Kurraba Wharf for the 11:13  ferry. If you elect to go straight to the wharf, you will have time to stop at Kirribilli at one of Sydney's best cafes, the Anvil Coffee Co. www.anvilcc.com.au  

Whichever option is taken, you do not have time to dawdle. It's a 25 minute walk from Cremorne Point to Kurraba Point wharf. If you do choose to dawdle, maybe take a dip in the Macallum Pool, you can forego both Nutcote House and the Anvil and catch the following ferry from either Neutral Bay (11:40) or Kurraba Point (11:43).

The Anvil Coffee Co is a great example of the benefits of not going overboard in infrastructure investment and just concentrating on what's important. It's perched on the idiosyncratic Kirribilli Wharf and seems to floats on the deep clear water. The views are breathtaking, the coffee is super good and the DIY fitout adds to the charm.

It's now 11:46, so time to catch the ferry back to Circular Quay. The F5 line provides the best view of the Prime Minister's home, Kirribilli House. Next door is the Governor General's Sydney residence, Admiralty House.
  

Cockatoo Island

Change at Circular Quay to Wharf 5 for the 12:07 F3 ferry to Cockatoo Island. This is a Rivercat service, which operates via Darling Harbour then goes direct to Cockatoo Island. First Fleet Ferries travelling via Balmain, Birchgrove, Greenwich and Woolwich also go to Cockatoo Island.

On the way to the Darling Harbour stop, the ferry passes the Barangaroo construction site (on your left, heading towards Darling Harbour). This includes the transformation of an old industrial site into a six hectare harbour foreshore park in a naturalistic style with a huge performance space underground. New commercial and residential buildings are being constructed south of the park.
 
Cockatoo Island www.cockatooisland.gov.au provides the heritage component of the trip. An audio tour is strongly recommended. The old convict quarters and massive former shipyard buildings create a redolent atmosphere. The restored Biloela House sits at the highest point and provides fabulous views of Sydney.

The island is at its best when hosting a big event or when the Island Bar is open (Thursday to Sundays). The place comes alive.

Take the 13:40 RiverCat to Circular Quay, or 13:19 First Fleeter if you are getting itchy feet.

Watsons Bay

Transfer at Circular Quay to the F7 Ferry departing Wharf 4 for Watsons Bay. 

For jaw dropping scenery on a day with clear skies, Watsons Bay is hard to beat.

If the lower North Shore is sedate and well heeled, parts of the Eastern Suburbs are plain opulent. The journey on the ferry provides good views of some of the most ostentatious residences in Sydney, plus glimpses of beautiful harbour beaches. The pick of them is Nielsen Park, just before the ferry pulls into Watsons Bay. 

After disembarkation, head up the hill through Robertson Park to the viewing platforms overlooking the Gap. The view is spectacular and unexpected after a quiet ride in the harbour. The views back to the city are also stunning.

Watsons Bay has a cute fishing village feel combined with the hustle and bustle of visitors, sunbathers and swimmers. A refreshment at the Watsons Bay Hotel, overlooking the ferry wharf, is recommended. www.watsonsbayhotel.com.au If you have time, you can also walk to South Head for another spectacular view, looking across the Heads to Manly.

Take the 15:45 ferry back to Circular Quay.

Taronga Zoo/ Walk to Bradleys Head

 It is starting to get late in the day and you probably need to wind down a little and recharge. No better way to do it than a short walk in natural bushland at Bradleys Head.

On returning from Watsons Bay, transfer to Wharf 2 and board the 16:20 ferry to Taronga Zoo. It should be a double ended Lady Class boat, the oldest of the Sydney Ferry fleet. The two Lady boats are the last in a line of double ended screw ferries which have served public transport in Sydney since 1892. Sit in the open upper deck area immediately behind the wheelhouse to enjoy the late afternoon breeze.   

The Zoo has now closed for the day, so don't try to go there. On leaving the wharf, walk up the right hand side of the road about 200 metres until you reach the Bradleys Head walking track. Follow the track all the way to Bradleys Head.

This walk gives you a sense of what the Sydney Harbour foreshore was like before the ravages of European settlement: graceful Angophora trees, wildflowers, secluded beaches and sandstone outcrops. You will wonder how it is possible that such natural beauty can remain just 12 minutes by slow ferry from the centre of a city with a population of nearly five million. The little beaches look like something out of Treasure Island.

Wander back and catch the 17:12 ferry back to Circular Quay. You can always catch a later one if you want to dwell longer at Bradleys Head. The last ferry leaves Taronga Zoo wharf at 19:01.

More Information

The ferry times provided are based on the week-day timetable. Week-end timetables are different. To replicate this trip, please follow either the week-day or week-end/ public holiday itineraries shown below. Note that the order of some trips on the week-end is different to accommodate the week-end ferry timetable.

If you plan to start your travel on the ferry anywhere on the Parramatta River on a sunny Sunday, please reconsider. Rivercats regularly reach capacity on trips inbound to Circular Quay on Sunday mornings.

The Sydney Ferry timetable is not strictly a regular interval timetable (see other posts on this blog about the benefits of regular interval timetables). This means you cannot assume that connections will still work if you take an earlier or later service than the ones indicated in the itineraries.

   
All photographs on this post were taken by the author using a Fujifilm X-20 camera, except for the image of Maccallum pool, which was sourced from the website Sydney.concreteplayground.com.au .

Lady Northcott Turns Forty

The oldest remaining Lady Class ferry, the Lady Northcott, turns 40 on Friday. She and the Lady Herron are the last in a line extending back to the steamer Lady Mary, which was launched in 1892.  

All the Lady boats were double ended screw ferries, ideally suited to coming and going from Circular Quay without the need for cumbersome manoeuvring. 

The world's first double ended screw ferries were developed for the Clyde River, Scotland. Sydney's North Shore Ferry Company quickly followed suit, launching Australia's first double ended screw ferry, the Wallaby, in 1879. The Wallaby was designed by famous naval architect Norman Selfe. 

Selfe's designs were later perfected by Walter Reeks in the form of the Lady boats, with the Lady Mary and Lady Napier introduced to service in 1892 by the Balmain New Ferry Company. The Lady boats have continued in service on Sydney Harbour for an unbroken 122 years, surely a record in the history of public transport.

The Lady Northcott was designed by naval architects Barnes and Fleck and built at Carrington Slipways in Newcastle. It was launched on 26 September 1974, but first went into service on 31 January 1975. It has been a stalwart of the Taronga Zoo and Mosman lines, but is not suited to the tight turning required in Neutral Bay, Mort Bay Balmain or Darling Harbour. It is sometimes used as a back up to the Manly Ferry. With a passenger capacity of 800, it has also performed heroically in moving large crowds to and from events at Cockatoo Island.                           

What drives patronage - speed, frequency or fares? Part 2: Parramatta River

Commuter Peak Parramatta River and Cockatoo Island Line Configuration, October 2013 

New ferry timetables in October 2013 added capacity to commuter services on the Parramatta River.

A limited stop service was introduced in the AM peaks for the Middle River (Rydalmere to Abbotsford), with boats running direct from Abbotsford to McMahons Point and Milsons Point, before terminating at Circular Quay. 

For those further down the River, the story was not so positive. AM peak services to Circular Quay from Chiswick, Huntleys Point and Drummoyne were diverted to Balmain (Thames Street), adding about five minutes to their commute. This change eliminated the need for special Inner Harbour services to take people travelling from Balmain to McMahons Point and Milsons Point.

Limited stop services are popular with many passengers. Who wants to be take a milk run to work every day?  They do, however, come at a cost. To maintain the same service frequency at each stop, more vessels are needed. If additional capacity is not available, then frequency must be reduced. A compromise somewhere in the middle (which is what happened in this case) is the other possible outcome.

The table below shows the changes in service frequency by wharf as a result of the new timetable. Five wharves lost one service, three gained one and Rydalmere lost two services. These include boats travelling to Darling Harbour and Circular Quay. 



Week-day departures for services arriving at Circular Quay or Darling Harbour by 9 am

The impact of the changes on journey time are shown in the next table. Middle River locations were the main beneficiaries. Longer average journey times for lower River locations were ameliorated by Darling Harbour services, which continued to run direct from Drummoyne.   



Average time journey time (minutes) of week-day services arriving at Circular Quay or Darling Harbour by 9 am  

So what has been the impact of these changes?

The Bureau of Transport Statistics has recently released the results of a ferry census conducted in November 2013, a month after the new timetable came into effect. A census was also conducted in the same week in 2012, allowing a "before and after" comparison to be made.

The changes in AM peak commuter patronage, shown in the table below, is striking. Demand from the lower River has dropped by over 15% and by 9% in the middle River, despite the faster trips. Gains at Sydney Olympic Park and Kissing Point were more than offset by reduced demand at Cabarita and Abbotsford.



 Week-day boardings on services arriving at Circular Quay or Darling Harbour by 9 am

One bright spot was Balmain, which was up 22%, but this is probably explained by special circumstances in November 2012. The wharf was closed for upgrade at that time with passengers using a temporary wharf at Yeend Street.   

Despite two extra sailings in the AM peak runnings and two additional vessels, commuter patronage has declined by nearly 6% on the Parramatta River/Cockatoo Island routes. Average loadings per sailing are down from 91 to 78.   

One fat frog does not make a cane toad plague. The census is only taken over one week and there can be data inaccuracies. Changes to the MyMulti ticket products, discussed in the previous post, are likely to have had an impact too.

But the numbers show a striking pattern. It is a pattern consistent with what transport planners in European cities have said for a long time - keep the network simple and maximise frequencies.    



  

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What drives patronage - speed, frequency or fares? Part 1: Rose Bay and Manly

 

Sydney Ferries recorded impressive patronage growth of 6.9% in 2013-14, making it the second fastest growing public transport mode in Sydney (behind light rail).

But has the commuter market grown or did last year's long dry spell bring out more leisure and other off peak travellers?

Every six months, a census is taken of all Sydney Ferry boardings and disembarkations over one week. The information is captured in detail (down to individual wharf and service) and reported by the NSW Bureau of Transport Statistics www.bts.nsw.gov.au/Statistics/Ferry/default.aspx .

Leisure numbers are strongly affected by seasonal factors and weather. But commuter patronage in the AM peaks is more consistent. This makes it possible to speculate about the impact of timetable or fare changes on these services, by comparing the same week across years.

Data from the November 2013 census has just been released. Two major policy changes happened between November 2012 and 2013:

• Rules were changed for the periodical ticket product "MyMulti". Before 1 September 2013, all ferry passengers could use a MyMulti 1 ticket. This was changed to the more expensive MyMulti 2 for Inner Harbour ferry passengers and to the highest priced MyMulti 3 for Manly ferry passengers. Bus users were not affected. 
• Significant changes to ferry timetables, mainly affecting the Parramatta River and Eastern Suburbs, were implemented in October 2013.

MyMulti 1 tickets were popular with regular Manly Ferry commuters.  The change lifted the price of weekly MyMulti tickets for these passengers from $44 to $61, an increase of 39%.

So what happened to patronage?

For the sake of brevity, this analysis focuses on AM commuter peak passengers from Manly and Rose Bay, plus the aggregate AM peak.  A review of the Parramatta River will follow in Part 2 in three weeks time (when the author returns from a holiday).
     
A proxy measure for regular work commuters is the count of passengers who catch ferries terminating at the CBD terminals by 9.00 am on week-days.    



Mean daily boardings on services arriving Circular Quay at or before 9.00 am (week-days)

The Manly timetable was the same in both years, but passengers were affected by the MyMulti ticket changes. Almost 15% fewer passengers caught the Manly Ferry in the AM commuter peak in the last week of November 2013, compared to the same week in 2012. That's a drop of 254 passengers each morning, or the equivalent of six additional busloads on Military Road. 

Rose Bay figures are the big surprise. Rose Bay peak services were supplemented in the October 2013 timetable changes, moving from 30 to 20 minute headways. But the additional capacity has not been matched by increased patronage. Total AM peak numbers actually dropped almost 9%. Perhaps Rose Bay commuters who need to change modes at Circular Quay are using other transport options in response to the MyMulti ticket revamp. 

The apparent drop in AM commuter peak numbers is not limited to Rose Bay and Manly. The data shows that passengers arriving at Circular Quay and the other main destination wharves on week-days at or before 9.00 am were down 9.6% on the same week in November 2012. 

Mean daily disembarkations at main destinations at or before 9.00 am (week-days)

             

Why getting names right helps public transport legibility

There was a time when Milsons Point Luna Park wharf was just called Milsons Point. It was changed about two years ago to the longer four word version, perhaps to help customers who don't know where the iconic amusement park is located.

But the change had another impact. 

There is also a Milsons Point train station, which is about five minutes walk from the ferry wharf.  A passenger catching the F4 line from Balmain East or Pyrmont Bay can change at Milsons Point to catch a train on the North Shore line. Where such transfers are possible, all modes should use the same stop name. This is because it highlights to the irregular user that a transfer is possible.

So "Milsons Point Luna Park" wharf should still be called plain "Milsons Point".

The other side of the coin is Sydney Olympic Park wharf, which is 2.8 km  from Sydney Olympic Park train station, as the crow flies - hardly a convenient walk. The wharf is actually located in the suburb of Wentworth Point and is nowhere near either the sport stadium or another transport terminal named Sydney Olympic Park.

To avoid confusion, Sydney Olympic Park wharf should be called Wentworth Point.

These issues may seem trivial for the regular user of a network who has become accustomed to its many idiosyncracies, but it can be baffling to a visitor or  infrequent user if consistent naming conventions are not followed. As highlighted by Terzis and Last (2000) in the Urban Interchange Good Practice Guide, the badging of an interchange is one of many factors which contribute to customer awareness and use of transfer opportunities.   

Is Sydney getting best value from its wharf upgrade program?

Previous posts on this blog have highlighted the importance of well designed ferry terminals which allow passengers to quickly disembark and board.

Sydney's commuter wharves are the responsibility of Roads and Maritime Services (RMS), not the ferry operator or Transport for NSW, as many people might assume. RMS is in the middle of a major wharf upgrade program which will cost about $70 million. Five new wharves have already been built and a further seven are planned.

A major investment into transport infrastructure of this scale is normally made in the context of a detailed network plan covering the life of the new terminals and modelling of expected passenger movements at individual locations. 

The design solution should take account of the different characteristics of passenger movements at different locations. At some wharves passenger movements are mainly one directional. Crowds either board the vessel in AM peaks or disembark in PM peaks at a commuter wharf like Mosman or Thames Street Balmain, but not at the same time.

At other places, like Pyrmont Bay which mainly serves leisure passengers, large numbers can disembark and board the same vessel. It is not uncommon for more than 100 people to disembark at Pyrmont Bay while another 100 are waiting to board. For passenger safety and to minimise dwell time, it is vital that any new wharf is designed to ensure efficient egress and ingress of passengers.   

Sadly this will not happen at Pyrmont Bay. The "cookie cutter" strategy adopted by RMS in constructing previous wharves will continue at Pyrmont Bay, apparently without detailed analysis or modelling of predicted crowd movements. The recently announced wharf design shows:

• a small pontoon, similar in size to Thames Street Balmain wharf
• seating positioned longitudinally in the middle of the pontoon, which is likely to interfere with passenger egress and ingress
• no indication of how passengers waiting to board a ferry will be separated from disembarking passengers.  It is probable the crowds waiting to board on a busy Sunday afternoon will extend up the ramp, blocking the exit of disembarking passengers.       

   

At a busy terminal like Pyrmont Bay with two directional crowd movements, dwell time can only be minimised if two gangways are used, preferably double gangways. The small size of the pontoon and the positioning of fenders and seating make it unlikely that this will be possible. This means the opportunity to fix a key systemic shortcoming in the ferry network will be lost.

It is curious and frustrating that Sydney wharf design falls well short of the standards set by many other ferry networks, including Brisbane's. Here is an example of effective separation of boarding and disembarking passengers on the ramp at the Riverside ferry terminal Brisbane.

      

Are Periodical Ticket Discounts Really that Great?

Monthly, quarterly and annual MyMulti Tickets will not be available for purchase from 1 September 2014. This is part of a move to a totally "pay as you go" model for Sydney's public transport under the Opal card. 

Some argue that the price of periodical tickets is too heavily discounted in Sydney. This partly stems from comparisons between the price of MyMulti Yearly and Quarterly tickets and the cost of using an Opal card. The logic seems to be "if the Quarterly and Annual ticket price is more favourable than using Opal, then the periodical ticket products must be too cheap".

But if we were to compare MyMulti prices with monthly and annual fare prices in other cities, Sydney's periodical tickets are actually very expensive.

An Annual MyMulti 1 ticket costs 530 times more than a single train trip. In London, an Annual ticket is 430 times the price of a single train trip. In European cities, the discount is even greater. Annual tickets range from 211 times the single ticket (Amsterdam) to just 115 times in Munich.

As the average resident of Munich and Zurich makes 400-500 public transport trips per year, it is not surprising why the take up of periodical tickets in those cities is so high.

Sydney's recent flight from periodical tickets goes against the tide of international practice, which is to embrace them. The international bible of public transport best practice is the Hi Trans Guide. Among the seven top measures it lists to improve public transport is to "cut fares through the provision of integrated season tickets".

The benefit of season or periodical tickets is that, once purchased, passengers have an incentive to make as many public transport trips as possible. Each additional trip comes at no extra cost. 

But in order to encourage the purchase of a periodical ticket, the customer needs to be satisfied that they will make enough trips in the future to justify purchasing it upfront. That's why European cities keep the price of periodical tickets low. 

Having an Opal card is very convenient for passengers, but it could make a much greater contribution to growing public transport use if it included periodical fare options. London's Oyster card does this. And why not make it even easier by allowing users to specify when automatic payment deductions are made, such as on their fortnightly or monthly payday?