The other side in sight

Background In 2004 the report ‘Hoe ver is de overkant?’ (Oostinjen, 2004) showed that the ferry services in the Netherlands fulfilled an indispensable social and economic role, but that those ferry services were too often in the danger zone from a financial point of view. The outcomes of this report (Oostinjen, 2004) together with an amendment of Member of Parliament Van der Staaij (SGP), resulted in ten million euro’s from the national budget for the ferry services over freshwater in 2006. In this research is the current (financial) position of the ferry services over fresh water mapped, to ‘update’ the aforementioned report. In addition, given the ongoing focus on the environment, attention is paid to the impact of the ferry services on the environment. Social and economic value There are currently 243 ferry services exploited in the Netherlands. With respect to the previous research, the number of ferry services has increased by almost 24%. 93 of these ferry service are services over freshwater which sail throughout the entire year. The aforementioned ferry services transfer over 32 million persons a year. It is proved that the absence of ferry services will lead to barrier functioning. Users are then obliged to alter their behavior by changing their need, type of transport and/or location. When a user still chooses to make the trip, most of the time extra costs are involved, dependent on the chosen alternative. By determining the monetary amount with which a user wants to be compensated for ‘taking away’ the ferry service, the willingness-to-accept (WTA), the social value of the ferry services could be quantified. It is then showed that the total WTA of the ferry services over freshwater totals up to 275,4 million euros. This is an increase of 13% with respect to 2004. Besides this, the extra kilometres – related to alternative routes – lead to higher environmental stress as they cause a higher emission of air pollutants and greenhouse gases. These external costs are mapped by using prevention costs and shadow prices of this extra pollution. The total external cost of the 333 million extra kilometres – 329 million for the normal ferries and 4 million for the Public Transport ferries – total up to 5,6 million euros. Moreover, the extra kilometres cause 103 extra road accidents a year. These numbers are substantial higher than in 2004, when the total external costs were 3,6 million euros and 76 extra road accidents were caused. The ferry services over freshwater transfer 32 million persons a year and have a direct turnover of 27 million euros. Besides this, the ferry services generate employment for 612 fte’s. With respect to 2004, the direct turnover has increased, while the number of fte’s has decreased. From the analysis of the financial position of the ferry services over fresh water becomes clear that the efficiency of the ferries has increased. Right down the line, the ferry services have thus increased their margin on average. Where the total exploitation deficit was 18 million euros in the previous research (Oostinjen, 2004), the current deficit has decreased to 6 million euros. This image could be distorted, however, as not all ferry services over freshwater are represented in the current research. The exploitation deficit of the normal ferries is mainly caused by the municipal car- and pedestrian-bicycle ferries. This is also confirmed by the average margin per person and the performance per fte of the municipal ferries, which is lower than that of the private ferries. A possible explanation is the execution of a 24-hour time schedule, where proportionally more fte are required. The lower return per person indicates, however, that there is room for improvement on the revenue side. This is an indication that there are possibilities to increase the efficiency of the municipal ferry services, for example by privatizing them, as the market seems to operate more efficient. Ferry services and the environment Ferry services are also involved in improvements with respect to the environment. Given the intensified attention for the (living) environment, an active attitude of the ferry services is required. The emission of the ferry services is determined by using emission factors from inland navigation. It becomes clear that emission of detrimental gases (i.a. CO2 and SO2) of the ferry services corresponds with 2-4% of the emissions of inland navigation. Furthermore, the hydrofoil and the catamaran are relatively most polluting with respect to other ferry types. This pollution is, however, still much lower than that of road transport. From the current research it becomes clear that only one third of the ferry services is engaged in sustainability from one’s own accord. Given the percentage which tries to be sustainable, it can be concluded that the ferry service sector is on the right track with respect to sustainability. Nevertheless, it requires still necessary efforts before the sector has a ‘sustainable’ character. The importance of ferry services From the current research it becomes clear that the social value of the ferry services is substantial; also the economic value is significant. Furthermore, ferry services play an important role with respect to the environment: the extra environmental costs as a consequence of the extra kilometres when ferry services are absent, are substantial. Ferry services thus prevent unnecessary kilometres and hence, have to be present in the mindset of (car)users. By making use of information campaigns, government and/or provinces could make users conscious of ferry services as a real option within the route choice. With the expected pressure on the Dutch roads in mind, and with it increasing congestion and waiting times, the use of a ferry service could be quicker and more profitable then was thought in the first instance. Different parties already brought various projects and ideas forward to cope with the congestion problem. What is remarkable, however, is that none of the mentioned projects think of the ferry services sector as a possible option for reducing congestion. Because of this, it appears that ferry services are also absent in the mindset of policy makers. Ferry services are a neglected way of increasing the robustness of the Dutch road network in the medium term. Background In 2004 the report ‘Hoe ver is de overkant?’ (Oostinjen, 2004) showed that the ferry services in the Netherlands fulfilled an indispensable social and economic role, but that those ferry services were too often in the danger zone from a financial point of view. The outcomes of this report (Oostinjen, 2004) together with an amendment of Member of Parliament Van der Staaij (SGP), resulted in ten million euro’s from the national budget for the ferry services over freshwater in 2006. In this research is the current (financial) position of the ferry services over fresh water mapped, to ‘update’ the aforementioned report. In addition, given the ongoing focus on the environment, attention is paid to the impact of the ferry services on the environment. Social and economic value There are currently 243 ferry services exploited in the Netherlands. With respect to the previous research, the number of ferry services has increased by almost 24%. 93 of these ferry service are services over freshwater which sail throughout the entire year. The aforementioned ferry services transfer over 32 million persons a year. It is proved that the absence of ferry services will lead to barrier functioning. Users are then obliged to alter their behavior by changing their need, type of transport and/or location. When a user still chooses to make the trip, most of the time extra costs are involved, dependent on the chosen alternative. By determining the monetary amount with which a user wants to be compensated for ‘taking away’ the ferry service, the willingness-to-accept (WTA), the social value of the ferry services could be quantified. It is then showed that the total WTA of the ferry services over freshwater totals up to 275,4 million euros. This is an increase of 13% with respect to 2004. Besides this, the extra kilometres – related to alternative routes – lead to higher environmental stress as they cause a higher emission of air pollutants and greenhouse gases. These external costs are mapped by using prevention costs and shadow prices of this extra pollution. The total external cost of the 333 million extra kilometres – 329 million for the normal ferries and 4 million for the Public Transport ferries – total up to 5,6 million euros. Moreover, the extra kilometres cause 103 extra road accidents a year. These numbers are substantial higher than in 2004, when the total external costs were 3,6 million euros and 76 extra road accidents were caused. The ferry services over freshwater transfer 32 million persons a year and have a direct turnover of 27 million euros. Besides this, the ferry services generate employment for 612 fte’s. With respect to 2004, the direct turnover has increased, while the number of fte’s has decreased. From the analysis of the financial position of the ferry services over fresh water becomes clear that the efficiency of the ferries has increased. Right down the line, the ferry services have thus increased their margin on average. Where the total exploitation deficit was 18 million euros in the previous research (Oostinjen, 2004), the current deficit has decreased to 6 million euros. This image could be distorted, however, as not all ferry services over freshwater are represented in the current research. The exploitation deficit of the normal ferries is mainly caused by the municipal car- and pedestrian-bicycle ferries. This is also confirmed by the average margin per person and the performance per fte of the municipal ferries, which is lower than that of the private ferries. A possible explanation is the execution of a 24-hour time schedule, where proportionally more fte are required. The lower return per person indicates, however, that there is room for improvement on the revenue side. This is an indication that there are possibilities to increase the efficiency of the municipal ferry services, for example by privatizing them, as the market seems to operate more efficient. Ferry services and the environment Ferry services are also involved in improvements with respect to the environment. Given the intensified attention for the (living) environment, an active attitude of the ferry services is required. The emission of the ferry services is determined by using emission factors from inland navigation. It becomes clear that emission of detrimental gases (i.a. CO2 and SO2) of the ferry services corresponds with 2-4% of the emissions of inland navigation. Furthermore, the hydrofoil and the catamaran are relatively most polluting with respect to other ferry types. This pollution is, however, still much lower than that of road transport. From the current research it becomes clear that only one third of the ferry services is engaged in sustainability from one’s own accord. Given the percentage which tries to be sustainable, it can be concluded that the ferry service sector is on the right track with respect to sustainability. Nevertheless, it requires still necessary efforts before the sector has a ‘sustainable’ character. The importance of ferry services From the current research it becomes clear that the social value of the ferry services is substantial; also the economic value is significant. Furthermore, ferry services play an important role with respect to the environment: the extra environmental costs as a consequence of the extra kilometres when ferry services are absent, are substantial. Ferry services thus prevent unnecessary kilometres and hence, have to be present in the mindset of (car)users. By making use of information campaigns, government and/or provinces could make users conscious of ferry services as a real option within the route choice. With the expected pressure on the Dutch roads in mind, and with it increasing congestion and waiting times, the use of a ferry service could be quicker and more profitable then was thought in the first instance. Different parties already brought various projects and ideas forward to cope with the congestion problem. What is remarkable, however, is that none of the mentioned projects think of the ferry services sector as a possible option for reducing congestion. Because of this, it appears that ferry services are also absent in the mindset of policy makers. Ferry services are a neglected way of increasing the robustness of the Dutch road network in the medium term.