The Wednesday Challenge Ferry took its first load of travellers across Tauranga Moana's harbour on Wednesday, September 28.

The ferry is part of the Wednesday Challenge, which kicked off in March to challenge Tauranga people to get out of their cars and use alternative travel instead.

Running for six weeks as part of the challenge until November 2, the ferry operates between Ōmokoroa, Tauranga and Mount Maunganui.

'The aim is just to give people options for different ways to get around and the idea of using harbours and ferries as one of our forms of transport is really exciting,” says Wednesday Challenge project director Heidi Hughes.

She says the ferry is intended for everyone to use. 'Some retirees are coming over for day-trips, there's mums and bubs going over to Ōmokoroa to use the playground, then there's commuters – so our goal is to get people out of cars and just using public transport, and bikes,” says Heidi.

Mount Maunganui resident Rebecca Cross, who commutes to Tauranga CBD for her job at Beca, made the most of the ferry on its Wednesday launch.

Rebecca says taking the Wednesday Ferry is easy and less stressful then taking her car.

'It was much easier than jumping in the car…and then finding a park, etcetera – it was actually quicker than my drive into work.”

Rebecca says the $15 return ferry ticket balances out in comparison to paying for petrol, and the $12.50 per day parking fee at The Strand.

Asked if the ferry would be a regular way she would travel if possible, Rebecca says: 'It would definitely be something I would consider doing regularly, absolutely… it's just a really enjoyable way to get to work”.

The ferry service is being delivered by Tauranga Water Transport and Tourism Bay of Plenty. Heidi says the regional council would come into conversation if the ferry is to operate beyond the Wednesday Challenge. 'The idea would be if the ferry service would want to compete really well, it would have a subsidy from the council as part of the transport network.

'We hope this turns into something and promotes the ferry as a way to get around everywhere,” says Heidi. 'If we had a whole lot of ferries buzzing around it would be amazing.”

To book your Wednesday Challenge Ferry ticket, visit: https://www.wednesdaychallenge.co.nz/trial-tauranga-ferry-service.