BC Ferries anticipating another busy long weekend

If you’re planning to visit Vancouver Island this long weekend and you don’t have a ferry reservation, be prepared to wait.

BC Ferries is warning that you will likely see long waits at the terminal if you don’t have a booking by the time you arrive.

Senior Communications Director Liza Yuzda tells 1130 NewsRadio you’re more likely to get on without a wait if you’re dropped off to the terminal and walk on without a car, but she says even that’s not a foolproof plan.

“There are times to be aware of, though, that for foot passengers, it could be incredibly busy. Because we have limited capacity. So people really need to plan ahead. You can buy foot passenger tickets ahead of time as well. So just really think ahead. If you know when you want to travel, make a booking,” said Yuzda.

She says long weekends are always busy, but one of the company’s major vessels, the Queen of New Westminster, is out of service for repairs and that’s putting even more pressure on the system.

Yuzda says you might still get lucky by finding a reservation for this weekend, and it’s not to early to plan ahead if you’re hoping to travel for Thanksgiving as well.

“We are adding capacity where possible this long weekend and the Thanksgiving long weekend, but having one major route vessel out of service and no resiliency in our fleet no extra vessels, means that we can’t just shift vessels from one route to another without disrupting service for other passengers and other customers,” she said.

Yuzda says BC Ferries is working towards renewing the “resiliency” that comes with having another vessel on the water.

—With files from Michelle Meiklejohn