BARGE company Stradbroke Ferries has vowed a fare restructure in April will not penalise island residents or ratepayers.
Under the new structure, "round-trip tickets" will be abolished and replaced with five types of one-way fares, which increase in price at times of high demand, such as Boxing Day.
A standard one-way fare for a car will be $75 with off-peak light $55; off-peak $65; premium $85 and super premium $95.
Islanders will be eligible for a 20 per cent, and ratepayers a 10 per cent, discount on standard, off-peak light and off-peak fares.
But there won't be any discounts on the $85 premium fare or the $95 super premium fare, both designed to encourage customers to travel at off-peak times.
However, there will be a $5 cut on all fares booked online.
Barge prices for island-registered cars will range from a minimum of $44 one way on the off-peak light fare, up to the super premium $95 one way, compared with the current $112 round trip.
The standard fare will be $75 one way but island residents will only pay $55 if they book online and don't travel in peak times.
Stradbroke Ferries general manager David Thomson said the fare restructure gave customers a choice about when they would travel and what priced ticket they would buy.
"It is about supporting local residents, respecting Straddie ratepayers who own property on the island, and encouraging visitors," he said.
"It will also help us cater for demand during peak times, while better using our fleet and services in off-peak slots."
But island resident Jason Russell said he believed the overhaul was unfair as it abolished a range of discounts, including a Frequent Floater package for residents and absentee landlords.
"The Frequent Floater discount was available all the time but under the new scheme island residents will not be eligible for discounts at peak-demand times," Mr Russell said.
"The barge company (Transit Systems) notified residents of pending changes but still has not released details."
Stradbroke Ferries said it was not good business to run empty or half-full barges and wanted to spread the service more evenly.
The company said residents could buy one-way off peak light fares of $44 and get a $5 online booking discount for $78, $9 more than the now-defunct $69 Shopper Day journey.
The company said the new structure would allow greater flexibility as shoppers did not have to return on the same day.
"Premium and Super Premium fares will be applied to journeys where we have high demand, limited capacity and additional costs," Mr Thomson said.
"The Premium and Super Premium fares overall represent less than 20 per cent of our total 8500 one-way journeys (1700 trips) to and from Straddie per annum.
"Off Peak and Off Peak Light fares will be typically scheduled for journeys with low demand and will offer the opportunity for our customers to plan their travel around the price incentives."
Originally planned for implementation in early 2015, the fare restructure will now come into effect on April 20.
