Coastal community says BC Ferries’ ‘core service’ isn’t enough
Posted October 6, 2023 7:35 am.
Last Updated October 6, 2023 7:42 am.
Some BC Ferries travellers are preparing to battle the latest long weekend crowds and then deal with the loss of another major vessel after Thanksgiving.
The Spirit of Vancouver Island, which services the Tsawwassen – Swartz Bay route, is due to go into drydock until Oct. 18 while it undergoes a major repair, resulting in the cancellation of 14 sailings on that route after the holiday Monday.
It will join the Coastal Renaissance which has been out of service since August because of a major engine issue. That issue isn’t expected to be resolved until mid-December.
Related Articles:
-
BC Ferries to face penalties for missed sailings due to crew shortages
-
Ferry frustrations flare with violent threat at Sunshine Coast meeting
-
BC Ferries details repairs to major vessel, Thanksgiving preparations
Due to shuffles in vessel placement to deal with the loss of the Renaissance on the Swartz Bay route, the southern Sunshine Coast has seen service cuts, bringing the number of sailings down to the minimum sailings contractually required for the Langdale – Horseshoe Bay route, resulting in long waits in recent weeks.
At a recent community meeting in Gibsons, angry residents expressed their frustrations with overloaded sailings in front of advisory board members and BC Ferries officials.
The chair of the Southern Sunshine Coast Ferry Advisory Committee says promises this week from the province to penalize BC ferries if it cancels “core service” sailings caused by staffing shortages are a positive step but don’t address a bigger problem.
“It’s overloads, it’s on-time performance. I think this is just looking at the tip of the iceberg,” says Diana Mumford. “I appreciate that the government is acknowledging there are issues with the service for residents and other ferry users on the coast, but I don’t know if this is the best solution to all the issues that are happening.”
Since “supplemental” service for peak times was cut on the Langdale route to help maintain sailings on the Tsawwassen – Swartz Bay route during vessel repairs, the minimum amount of sailings contractually required for the southern Sunshine Coast has resulted in multiple-sailing waits on some weekends.
But Mumford points out overloads are nothing new for locals who need to get to and from the Lower Mainland, often for work or medical appointments.
“We have a yearly amount of overloads of 31.3 per cent for fiscal 2023. That’s almost a third of your sailings overloaded, and that’s an average. In the summer it’s closer to 40 per cent overloads, which is pretty significant for us. You pull up and you wait and you wait, and if it’s overloaded then they also start to fall behind in time,” she explained to CityNews.
Mumford suggests core service levels on the Langdale route have not seen a meaningful increase for years.
“Our service contract between the provincial government and BC Ferries — they’ve been doing those since 2003 — the offpeak number of minimum roundtrip sailings that BC Ferries has to offer has been seven since 2007,” she explained, adding that number is set to remain the same through 2028.
“Yet our traffic count has increased by over 100,000 vehicles since that time. The traffic has increased, the population has increased, but our ferry season has not — not in the offpeak. In the peak, they have added two sailings extra, but not in the offpeak, which is 10 months of the year.”
Mumford is urging the provincial government and BC Ferries to look at funding models and service levels for smaller, ferry-reliant communities.
“We need to have the same kind of assurance that we will be able to get on our ferry just as anybody is able to drive their roads or cross their bridges or go through their tunnels. All we are asking is that our transportation system — which happens to float — is funded in such a way that it is reliable.”
