Brian Souter, Stagecoach chief executive, said: “This is an exciting transport project that would provide a seamless bus connection between two important local communities. “Passengers can use the amfibus to travel over road and water without having to leave the comfort of their seat to change from a bus to a ferry. It shows the potential of Scotland’s rivers and estuaries to be links rather than barriers to travel and we are looking forward to testing the technology on the Clyde.”
Stagecoach has already carried out tests of the “amfibus” in Rotterdam harbour where the vehicle coped well from the wash from heavily laden barges and provided a smooth travel experience. The “amfibus” being demonstrated next week is due to be used by Rotterdam Splash Tours for excursions around the harbour from next month.
A similar vehicle (or should that be "craft"?) was trialled on Lake Michigan last year. I wonder what became of that? Since the Stagecoach group is already well established in eastern Canada, maybe they could extend the trials to include Gabriola?
3 comments:
It looks a brilliant idea, but surely in tidal waters in estuaries or between islands there would be far too many cancelled 'sailings' due to bad weather and rough water to make it a financially viable option?
Detail, detail.
You have to appreciate that in British Columbia, the government was happy to spend $460 million on three fast ferries, only to take them out of service within a year because they kept sucking logs into their jet engines (with catastrophic results), then subsequently auctioned them off 2 years later for just $19.4 million, having refused an offer of $60 million from the same buyer prior to the auction!
$1.2 million for a floating bus is pocket money by comparison - and everyone knows the sun always shines in BC!
Somebody's head would roll in this country!
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