Why BC Ferries sailing wait times change
Posted July 5, 2024 7:12 am.
Last Updated July 5, 2024 10:21 am.
As the busy travel season gets underway at BC Ferries, many will want to know when they’re able to get on a sailing. But it may not always be possible to find out just how much of a sailing wait there is when problems arise on the system.
This was highlighted on Thursday morning when there was a mechanical problem on the Tsawwassen – Swartz Bay route. CityNews pressed the former Crown corporation repeatedly for an exact sailing wait time affecting hundreds of passengers.
“We’re encouraging passengers to check the current conditions webpage and the app for the latest information,” BC Ferries spokesperson Ritinder Matthew responded.
Eric McNeely, president of the BC Ferries and Marine Workers’ Union, says that answer isn’t good enough and not always possible for drivers racing to the terminal.
“I don’t check my phone while I’m driving — I don’t think we’re supposed to. You can check the radio. I think pushing the information out and making it readily available and providing that information to crews who have interactions with the public, makes a lot of sense. Sharing that information with media sources as well so that it can get it out in different ways, makes a lot of sense,” he explained.
He adds providing sailing wait times is crucial to people’s travel plans, including anyone flying into the airport and connecting to a sailing, and truck drivers moving goods.
“Give the public the easiest information possible, as accurate as possible at the time it was given. I think that’s a reasonable expectation for a public service,” McNeely said.
“Moving away from sharing information never feels like it’s transparent and it feels like it’s hiding something, when it may not be actually hiding something but I think there are ways to make it so people can plan their travel functionally.”
BC Ferries tells CityNews it doesn’t make sense to always provide an exact sailing wait time because things may be changing so rapidly on its end, especially if repairs are happening in real time, and it wants to avoid putting out incorrect or dated information.
“We strive to keep customers informed as much as possible with timely, accurate updates, ensuring consistency and avoiding assumptions. If we had provided an interim update, it would have indicated that there was no new information to share, and the website still reflected the most accurate information available. This is the challenge of providing exact sailing wait times as the information is subject to change,” it said in a statement to CityNews.
“Our current conditions page has the most up-to-date information that we can provide our customers. Customers can also subscribe to our service notices on our website to receive alerts for specific routes of interest.”
On Thursday at 7:30 a.m., BC Ferries posted a service notice to its website saying that the Queen of New Westminster departure from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay was cancelled, and the 8 a.m. departure from Swartz Bay was also pulled. At 9:15 a.m., it provided an update that repairs had been made and service would resume normally as of 10 a.m.
McNeely points out that other agencies like BC Hydro, Drive BC, and Vancouver International Airport (YVR) all provide timelines of outages, closures and delays in a timely fashion.
“I don’t think BC Ferries needs to reinvent the wheel. If you have a reservation, you’re not checking to see if the ferry is going — the expectation is that it is. If you’re travelling to Vancouver Island … and you’re unsure if you’re going to make the sailing that day at all, you’re going to want to look for accommodations,” he said.
“So, if you don’t have that opportunity because you don’t have that functional updates that you can base your life off of. You don’t want to be sitting outside a terminal or in a terminal for three hours, not knowing if you’re there for three or 10. Sharing that information, especially in the heat, is important.”
He also worries about how this may affect his union members.
“I can understand situations are live and there may be changes or things that update where you may not know. This creates a challenge for my members who are sitting in a terminal or talking to customers on a vessel who are planning a return trip and they don’t have the information available to share with the travelling public, meaning there could be a friction point for my members.
“It’s peak season. The highest travel time of the year and as much information as possible is the best way forward. There’s no point keeping people in the dark.”
