‘It is appalling to see’: BC United says BC Ferries issues show lack of leadership

Conflicting information on the BC Ferries website and Twitter account has travellers wondering how to plan trips if posted wait times are different. As Kier Junos reports, BC United says these ongoing issues show a failure of leadership.

By Liza Yuzda and Hana Mae Nassar

Posted July 27, 2023 3:52 pm.

Last Updated July 28, 2023 9:11 am.

The discrepancies between what’s posted on the BC Ferries website and what’s on the corporation’s Twitter account have B.C.’s political opposition calling for something to be done.

Passengers were once again faced with some inaccurate information around reservations online Thursday, amid a week that’s seen BC Ferries try to navigate major website mishaps.

BC United MLA Trevor Halford, who serves as the shadow minister for Transportation and Infrastructure, says BC Ferries having information it knows is incorrect on its website shows a lack of leadership — from the CEO to the chair of the board, to the government itself.

“It is appalling to see and I think there’s got to be some really tough questions asked once we get through this busy season because there’s a lot of frustrated people,” he told CityNews.

“I think we’re in the busiest period for BC Ferries and it is completely unreliable and the people that are suffering are two-fold — one is the people that rely on the service, but also, we’ve got to keep in mind the people that are actually working there and having to experience the frustration first-hand. Whether they’re working at a ticket booth or whether they’re staffing on the boat, this cannot be an enjoyable experience for them and they’ve been let down incredibly.”

Issues with the automated website program, which feeds the Current Conditions page, started Tuesday morning, telling drivers that there was a nine-sailing wait on the Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay route when it was really only about two sailings.

On Thursday, the website said at times there was a seven-sailing wait on that route when the ferry service reported a one-to-two sailing wait on Twitter.

“The minister, the chair, and the CEO (of BC Ferries) have all been MIA when it comes to dealing with these issues. They have left it to the front-line workers and that is completely a lack of leadership and completely unacceptable,” Halford said Thursday afternoon.

“Yesterday and today, we had inaccurate information up on the BC Ferries website for hours, not minutes, hours and hours and hours, before somebody said, ‘hey, that’s not accurate.’ So what does that mean? It means people are cancelling their travel plans, they’re cancelling their vacations, they’re cancelling medical appointments, they’re rushing off to different ferry terminals, adding hours and hours to their travel, all because BC Ferries can’t manage a website.”

#BCFHeadsUp As of 1:20 pm reserved #Tsawwassen to #SwartzBay traffic is moving normally. Standby traffic is experiencing a 5 sailing wait. Deck crews loaded 22 standby vehicles on the 1:00 pm sailing which may allow remaining standby vehicles to load on an earlier pm sailing. ^at

— BC Ferries (@BCFerries) July 27, 2023

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Rob Fleming did speak about the issues on Wednesday. At the time, he said the corporation chalked up the communication failure earlier in the week to old technology.

He added BC Ferries vowed to resolve the issue so it wouldn’t happen again, though he admitted the fix wouldn’t happen overnight.

Current Conditions ‘a forecasting tool’

BC Ferries told CityNews in a statement Thursday that its Current Conditions page is “a forecasting tool that projects available space at a particular point in time.” It later explained that it was aware of the discrepancies Thursday, adding it knows the predictions are incorrect.

In yet another statement Thursday, despite repeated attempts to secure an interview, the corporation said no one was available Thursday morning.

Spokesperson Karen Johnston said in an email that until the Coastal Celebration, which was pulled due to mechanical issues requiring repairs, returns to service, “we will report out how many stand by vehicles were accommodated by sailing via social media.”

The explanations are not enough to appease Halford, who says what’s happening is inexplicable.

“Right now, what we’re seeing is we’re seeing a bunch of excuses and we’re not seeing any leadership whatsoever from BC Ferries,” he said.

Nicolas Jimenez is now at the helm of BC Ferries. He previously urged people to have patience as he vowed to turn things around.

‘Things have gotten worse, not better’: Halford

When asked whether Halford has confidence the new CEO will do just that, the critic said it was his confidence in Premier David Eby and Rob Fleming that was lacking.

Halford says despite promises and action by the BC NDP, “things have gotten worse, not better” in the last several months.

He adds maintenance of the vessels BC Ferries uses has been an ongoing concern. For one, he feels maintenance should be done well before something breaks.

Another challenge he says needs to be addressed is staffing.

The website issues that BC Ferries has been dealing with come amid an already-challenging time for the corporation, which was forced to pull the Coastal Celebration vessel from service as of July 19.

The vessel is currently undergoing repairs on dry dock, with BC Ferries saying it hopes to have the boat back in service Friday.

-With files from Charlie Carey

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