Ferry good idea

ON MONDAY the Addy broke the story that the Committee for Geelong were meeting with Port Phillip Ferries to push for a trial of daily ferries between Geelong and Melbourne.

Today we happily bring you the news that a two-day trial will run in late July.

Obviously this is all quite embryonic and a long way from the daily morning and night ‘commuter ferry’ that would give this city a third transport route to Melbourne.

At 100 minutes a journey, it is also not the most rapid trip in the world.

It remains to be seen if a sufficient number of Geelongites avail themselves of the trial and any further roll outs so as to sustain an ongoing service.

But with the highway becoming increasingly jammed in peak times and the V/Line groaning under the strain of our booming commuting population, a regular route by water would most certainly be welcome to ease some of that pressure.

No one wants Geelong to turn into a dormitory town or lose its unique identity which is distinctive from the worst of the capital.

But the reality is the appeal of our quality of life and our cheaper (though rapidly skyrocketing) property prices is bringing Melburnians here in their thousands.

They won’t commute forever and their presence and spending will sustain local business and support its further growth.

The time the ‘two city’ ferry trip takes could come down from 100 minutes in the near future as pressure builds to increase speeds on and around the Yarra river.

The alternative — being stuck behind the wheel of a car for more than an hour on a gridlocked road unable to get through any work on a regular basis — is not very appealing.

Many may be excited by the prospect of finding their sea legs, a comfortable seat, fold-down tables, free Wi-Fi, a coffee on the way in and a wine on the way home, and getting through 200 minutes of the daily grind while skimming across our picturesque bay.