BC Ferries adds sailings, staff for May long weekend

BC Ferries is already trying to manage the expected surge of traffic at its terminals over the upcoming May long weekend.

After a significant number of delays and cancelled sailings over the past few months, BC Ferries is highlighting 500 recently hired employees and the added 110 sailings on its most popular routes from Thursday through next Tuesday.

That includes 74 additional sailings on the Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay route, 25 between Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay, and 11 extra sailings on the Langdale run.

BC Ferries is also offering advice for long weekend travellers, suggesting people ride-share or travel as a foot passenger to save space on the vehicle decks, take transit instead of parking, and arrive at the terminals early.

There is also the usual advice to book travel in advance — though as of Tuesday morning, most reservable space on popular routes was booked solid for Friday, Saturday and Monday.

The busiest days for travel will be:

Thurs & Fri afternoon & Sat morning from #Tsawwassen & #HorseshoeBay

Monday afternoon from #VancouverIsland & the #SunshineCoast

Avoid sailing waits by:
Booking in advance
Travelling at less busy times
Walking on board

— BC Ferries | Reconnecting BC (@BCFerries) May 16, 2022

As the summer travel season begins, Canada’s transport minister says the federal government is doing what it can to fix the problems at major airports.

Air travellers have been complaining about long lineups and delays related to staff shortages and, last week, Omar Alghabra suggested that was because Canadians are out of practice after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic keeping them at home.

“We are seeing that the surge for demand to travel is putting a lot of pressure on our airport [and] on our security systems,” he told the House of Commons.

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During question period Monday, Alghabra pressed by the opposition Conservatives about what he is doing to help.

“We are doing everything we can to address these line-ups,” he responded. “We are working with airports, we are working with the airline sector, and we are working with CATSA to address these issues.”

Alghabra also told the House of Commons that long lineups at airports are good news because Canadians are travelling again.