Missing buses, lost sales: Ferry terminal closure angers Bulimba locals

Detailed summary

Commuters and business owners say the back-up plan while one of Brisbane’s busiest ferry stops is closed is a “schemozzle”.

Commuters and business owners are voicing their frustrations over the five-week closure of the Bulimba ferry terminal, with complaints of replacement buses not showing up and extra cars flooding streets.

More than 1100 passengers board at Bulimba ferry terminal each day, making it one of the busiest in the network, but it was shuttered for maintenance on Monday, and due to reopen in mid-December.

Bulimba resident Margaret Hall arrived about 7.20-7.25am on Monday and waited for a shuttle to Hawthorne that was supposed to turn up every 10 minutes.

Eventually, about 7.50am, she gave up and caught the 231 bus, arriving 20 minutes’ late for work.

“It’s a schemozzle,” she said. “That’s been, really, how it’s been all week.

“Normally, I could catch the 8.15am cross-river ferry, jump on a Glider and be in the Valley by 8.30am, which is convenient to me.

The alternative options provided by council include using the Hawthorne ferry terminal, catching the F21 cross-river service between Hawthorne and Teneriffe, route 232 or 23 shuttle for a connection to the Hawthorne ferry, or route 230 to catch a bus into the city.

But commuters like Hall reported shuttle buses not showing up, and Hawthorne residents complained of extra cars flooding their streets, including some parked over driveways.

Peter Aitcheson, from homewares store Perfect Living on Oxford Street, two minutes’ walk from the Bulimba ferry stop, said changes to ferry transport had a big impact on local business.

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