Island resident more occasional travel

As crossing times increase, island residents’ use of the ferry will be more occasional, e,g., heath trips; visiting friends and family; sport (spectating / participating); holidays; shopping trips for major, occasional purchases; business trips; and commuting to e.g., offshore jobs.

With respect to more occasional travel, the ‘need’ here is that the ferry service should:

• Allow people to reliably (recognising that, on some occasions, weather will prevent or delay travel even with the highest quality vessel and infrastructure) make essential journeys say within plus or minus one day of their preferred travel date.
• Provide meaningful connectivity where practicable with national bus and rail connections.

The extent and purpose(s) of more occasional travel could only be defined through a survey of island residents, supported by reference to the ‘island context’ set out earlier in this section.