Driving buses round the bend
Even experienced coach drivers struggle up Mt Wellington and companies often have to disappoint tourists. A cable car would help,
AS Tasmania’s leading tourism coach operator, Redline is on the coalface of delivering a quality Tasmanian experience to visitors to our state, as we have done for 90 years.
A visit to Mt Wellington/ kunanyi is on every tour group’s itinerary. It is a major drawcard and it provides guests with an opportunity to embrace the spectacular views over southern Tasmania.
In the current COVID-19 environment things are quiet for us but in busier times, which we will get back to, we are regularly faced with having to make a critical decision.
Is it safe and is it viable to proceed to the summit of Mt Wellington/kunanyi with our guests? Not an enviable position to be in when proudly wanting to showcase our state to tourists. The current road (when it is open) is simply unsafe for tourist traffic, let alone large coaches.
Even our most highly trained and experienced drivers are reluctant to attempt the journey, a journey in which they often encounter accidents, unsafe driving practices, tourists stopped in the middle of the road for photos, icy conditions and unbelievably narrow sections with a steep drop.
We are met with traffic jams, delays and unpredictability that throw guests’ itineraries out the window and leaves them faced with a long wait in traffic and at times missing out on other attractions later in the day. All because they simply wanted to take in one of Tasmania’s most breathtaking views.
Hardly a world-class experience.
We applaud Hobart City Council for its efforts to ease congestion by providing a minibus service but it has proven to fall short of being a real, long-term solution.
It might be a somewhat practical solution for couples and families, but it is not adequate to accommodate large tour groups, conference delegates and school groups, which are an important part of our tourism economy.
It is now standard practice in the Tasmanian coach tours industry to notify tour groups that we may or may not be able to take them to the summit and that we will have to make a decision based on information available on the day. This is not good enough and is extremely disappointing for tourists, but what alternative is available?
Tourists are going to visit the mountain. That is a simple fact. They will hire cars and drive up there in the thousands when tourism returns and the same problems will exist — congestion, accidents and a poor visitor experience for tourists and locals.
Whilst I appreciate that not everyone agrees with a cable car, it seems the current proponents have done the near impossible task of putting together a proposal that satisfies key concerns, including my own.
Having examined the detail, theirs is the only logical solution to solve this access issue and I have no doubt locals will be proud of it once built and tourists will flock to it. The base station comfortably accommodates coaches and traffic can be managed properly.
Not having buses use Pinnacle Rd alone will be safer and quieter for other park users.
The submitted design is sensitive to the environment, accessible to all ages and abilities and much better than a congested and dangerous summit road.
It replaces some of the woeful amenities at the summit and can ensure visitors will be able to enjoy a spectacular world-class experience.
COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on tourism but it has also given us an opportunity to reflect on how
bad the visitor experience has been on the mountain and to consider how we want it to be in the future.
As we rebuild Tasmania’s tourism economy, it is up to our state’s leaders to take some long overdue action and ensure that it can be done safely and that the visitor experience can be world-class as it deserves to be.
Looking globally, the rebuilding of the tourist economy will be a long and slow process, but this gives us the time to prepare and plan so we can deliver on our promise, to be a world-class tourist destination.
I just hope that in three years’ time, when it is predicted that tourism may return to the same level we experienced in 2019, we are not still battling with traffic jams, accidents and disappointed tourists who just want to take in one of the most breathtaking views in Tasmania.