Recently, a Gabriola family was returning from Vancouver on the 9pm ferry from Horseshoe Bay- due to arrive in Nanaimo at 10.40pm.  Their plan left plenty of time for the short drive from Departure Bay to Nanaimo Harbour to catch the last ferry at 11.30pm to Gabriola. Most nights the connection works fine – but that evening, problems backed up for BC Ferries at Horseshoe Bay with several delayed sailings and it was 9.45pm before the ferry left for Nanaimo, meaning it wouldn’t arrive at Departure Bay until about 11.25pm.

Fearing they would miss their connection, the family went to the Pursor’s office and asked the Pursor to call ahead to Nanaimo Harbour and arrange for Quinsam’s last sailing to be held a few minutes for them to get home.  Their request was refused and when they finally arrived in Nanaimo Harbour at 11.35pm, Quinsam had sailed without them.  That delay cost the family over $100 for a hotel room in Nanaimo.

FAC Chair, John Hodgkins, contacted BC Ferries for clarification of their policy on guaranteeing connections to last ferries. Their response indicated that there is no established procedure whereby the Route 19 vessel will hold for connecting traffic from Route 2 on the last sailing to Gabriola- and BC Ferries has no plans to introduce one, citing the following reasons:

• Delaying the last sailing to Gabriola may incur additional overtime costs, which puts further pressure on future fare increases
• If there is not a precise understanding of which vehicles are trying to make the connection, the potential for missed connections still remains if other vehicles also arrive late at the Nanaimo Harbour terminal
• Drivers hurrying to make connections are more likely to drive fast and present a road safety risk.

All of which is undoubtedly true - but BC Ferries acknowledged that “informal” arrangements have existed in the past on this and other routes to hold connecting late night services when ferries run late.

Sadly, it seems this is yet another example of corporate policy overriding local consideration – without any thought to the impact on the customer.

It’s not all down to the BC Ferry Corporation, of course. Elsewhere, governments impose punctuality targets, performance penalties and passenger compensation schemes to protect travellers. Not so in BC it seems.

Take Europe, for example. Throughout the EU, ferry passengers delayed more than an hour are entitled to a 25% fare refund, rising to 50% if the delay exceeds two hours. If your delay requires overnight accommodation, the ferry operator may have to pay.

It’s the same on Britain’s railways, where the government’s “Delay Repay” scheme guarantees a 50% refund if trains are delayed by 30 minutes, rising to 100% for a delay of one hour. In most cases, these operators too are private corporations, so compensation to passengers comes straight off their bottom line. Should the BC government be taking a leaf out of Europe’s book on customer protection?

At our recent FAC meeting we implored BC Ferries to adopt more flexible approach to solving local problems with local solutions.  An offer from BC Ferries to discuss their strategy for delayed connections with the FAC would have been welcomed. No offer has been forthcoming, so this must now go on our list to take up with BC Ferries at our next discussion.

For the FAC to take up the need for assured late-night connections, we need to consider the facts.

• Until a few years ago, the last ferry to Gabriola left Nanaimo Harbour at 11pm. That meant it was almost impossible to catch the 9pm ferry from Horseshoe Bay and still make the connection to Gabriola. Now, Quinsam‘s last sailing is at 11.30pm – and, for the time being at least, that’s the way it’s likely to stay.
• Driving time to Nanaimo Harbour (according to Google) is 6 minutes from Departure Bay and 15 minutes from Duke Point. Let’s call it 10 minutes and 20 minutes to be on the safe side.  BC Ferries allows up to 15 minutes for unloading from the big ferries and expects customers with cars to check in at Nanaimo Harbour at least 5 minutes before departure.  So, if everything runs to schedule, we should allow up to 30 minutes for connections from Departure Bay and 40 minutes from Duke Point.
• The BC government determines that ferry arrivals up to 10 minutes after scheduled time will still be considered “on time” – so that suggests we might need up to 40 minutes to ensure a connection from Departure Bay and 50 minutes from Duke Point.
• Any ferry delayed by more than 10 minutes is reported as a ’late sailing’ and the reason for the delay is recorded by BC Ferries. A delay of more than 20 minutes automatically triggers a “service notice” on the BCF website and email alerts to any customer that has subscribed to receive them.
• From mid-October to mid-May, the late ferry from Horseshoe Bay departs at 9pm and arrives at Departure Bay at 10.40pm, 50 minutes before the last ferry to Gabriola. We should reasonably expect to be able to make that connection with ease.
• During the summer months, the late ferry leaves Horseshoe Bay at 9.30 pm and arrives in Departure Bay at 11.10pm.  That’s just 20 minutes before the last Gabriola ferry – and realistically, too late for a reliable connection to be possible.  The previous departure (7.30pm from Horseshoe Bay) arrives in Departure Bay at 9.10pm – probably too late for the 9.25 departure to Gabriola, but in plenty of time for the 10.25.
• The 8.15pm ferry from Tsawwassen  arrives at Duke Point at 10.15pm, a full hour and a quarter before the last ferry to Gabriola. Again, we should reasonably expect to be able to make a connection to Gabriola from this sailing.

So, what should the FAC be proposing to BC Ferries?  Here are some of my own suggestions:

• Passengers arriving on time to travel with a vehicle on the 9pm sailing from Horseshoe Bay (7.30pm in summer) and the 8.15pm sailing from Tsawwassen should be able to purchase a transfer ticket right through to Gabriola (similar to the transfer tickets already sold to the Southern Gulf Islands).  That way, BC Ferries would know by 9pm (latest) how many vehicles need to make the connection to Gabriola and could advise the Nanaimo Harbour terminal accordingly.
• On arrival at Nanaimo Harbour, customers would exchange their transfer ticket for a ticket to Gabriola at no extra charge. Once all transfer tickets are accounted for, the last sailing to Gabriola would not need to be held.
• If the 9pm sailing from Horseshoe Bay is delayed by more than the 10 minute “on time” window,  the information is already available to staff at Nanaimo Harbour terminal (via the BC Ferries website) and they should be alert to the possible need to hold the 11.30pm sailing to Gabriola.  The same could apply to the 8.15pm departure from Tsawwassen.
• If the number of transfer tickets exchanged at Nanaimo Harbour does not balance, BC Ferries should be prepared to hold the 11.30pm departure to Gabriola for up to 10 minutes (still considered to be “on time” by the ferry contract) in expectation of connecting passengers still to arrive.
• If the 9pm sailing from Horseshoe Bay is delayed more than 20 minutes, so the arrival time is likely to be less than 30 minutes before the last ferry to Gabriola, BC Ferries should contact Nanaimo Harbour terminal and a potential hold to the Gabriola ferry requested. A hold for up to 10 further minutes (until 11.50pm) would not seem unreasonable – but ONLY if the delay to the 9pm sailing from Horseshoe Bay (or the 8.15pm sailing from Tsawwassen) exceeds 20 minutes – and ONLY if passengers on board have purchased transfer tickets. That way, any extra cost to BC Ferries should be minimised.
• The FAC should publish and maintain a list of accommodations in Nanaimo which offer discounted rates for passengers missing the last ferry to Gabriola (as a few already do) and provide that list to BC Ferries. In the event that the last sailing from the mainland is seriously delayed, it would be the passenger’s responsibility to obtain a copy of the list from the Purser on board who could, if appropriate, call ahead to check availability. The transfer ticket could be presented at the hotel to obtain the discount and it would remain valid for onward travel to Gabriola the following morning.

Travelling at any time of day has to be a shared responsibility - but late evening travel presents different challenges. We all understand that ferries can be delayed for any number of reasons, but more than anything else the ferry user needs to be confident that if things do go wrong, BC Ferries shares that responsibility to try and put things right - accepting any resultant cost – within reasonable limits.

The FAC understands that BC Ferries’ ticketing systems may not be able (yet) to accommodate new ticket variants, but we also know that BCF  has printed boarding passes available for use when our ferry system faces disruption. A similar system could be used temporarily to provide evidence of payment for a transfer to Gabriola.

The FAC needs to hear the views of ferry users before we can take this matter further with BC Ferries. There’s no guarantee our suggestions will be accepted, but we need need to know what you consider to be a realistic solution.  You can comment via this website, or email us directly at gabriola.fac@gmail.com

The Nanaimo News Bulletin reports on how each of the Nanaimo riding candidates views the way forward:

Nanaimo riding candidates agree that change needs to happen to ensure a sustainable and affordable ferry system.

But their ideas for what needs to be done to keep the coastal ferry service afloat are all different.

Last fall, the province asked for public input on how to make the system more sustainable, including ideas on finding $26 million in savings over the next four years.

Rising costs and declining ridership are creating a financial crunch for the ferry system – B.C. Ferries lost more than $16 million last fiscal year and that is predicted to rise to $56 million per year within the next five years.

Before the election was called, the Liberal government was in the process of reviewing the thousands of comments it received during the eight-week consultation.

Liberal candidate Walter Anderson believes the province should stay the course on actions taken by his party so far and continue following the recommendations made by B.C. Ferries commissioner Gord Macatee – the Liberal government introduced several amendments to the Coastal Ferry Act last spring based on these recommendations.

“We are actively working on this,” he said. “Sustaining that system is very important to us and to the people of B.C.”

Incumbent Leonard Krog said the first thing the NDP would do is freeze fares over the next two years while a full review of the service was conducted, including a review of salaries – one concern the party has is with the number of people in management positions. The union which represents workers at the ferry corporation suggested a number of practical steps that could be taken to run the system more efficiently and at less cost, he said.

“We’re going to take a practical approach and listen to the workers,” said Krog. “We’ve committed to making B.C. Ferries transparent and that hasn’t been the case.”

Conservative candidate Bryce Crigger said his party’s short-term solution is offering relief for frequent passengers.

The relief comes in the form of giving a tax credit to people who spend more than $780 and less than $1,800 a year on ferry fares (and bridge tolls), excluding passengers, which could amount to as much as $408 a year per individual.

The party also wants to get rid of the carbon tax, which would save the B.C. Ferries Corporation about $10 million, said Crigger.

“That would at least freeze fares,” he said. “Rates wouldn’t decrease necessarily, but they wouldn’t need to increase.”

Green Party candidate Ian Gartshore offers a fourth option.

His solution is an integrated transit system relying on a smaller, downtown-to-downtown foot passenger ferry with fewer sailings for vehicles and having foot passengers use transit options such as buses, the train and car share programs. Benefits of such a system include lower costs for getting around, less need to subsidize the ferries, less road congestion and reduced carbon emissions, said Gartshore.

“The whole system is based on the car and fewer and fewer people are taking cars on the ferries,” he said.

Independent candidate Brunie Brunie said she would concentrate on programs to increase local self-sufficiency so people don’t have to depend on the ferry system.

Read the article and comments at http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/news/204526151.html

VANCOUVER — Adrian Dix’s promise to freeze ferry rates and abandon savings initiatives will actually end up costing the company $40 million over the next three years.

“Only the NDP would hide a $40 million cut as a $40 million grant to BC Ferries,” says Transportation Minister Mary Polak, who is also Today’s BC Liberal candidate in Langley. “This is typical of the NDP – find a way to borrow, spend and tax your way into ruin.”

The math is simple. On annual ferry revenues of approximately $500 million a four per cent fare increase will generate $20 million in new revenue in the first year and $40 million in year two, due to compounding.

Last year, the independent BC Ferry Commissioner said BC Ferries had to find $26 million in savings through route changes. However, Adrian Dix announced they would prohibit these route adjustments while they undertake some form of “audit” of the corporation.

Under the current plan for Ferries, they could expect $80 million in new revenues and spending reductions. Under the NDP’s plan BC Ferries would only see $40 million in new government subsidies, leaving them $40 million worse off.

“I have news for Adrian Dix – taking $40 million out of BC Ferries is bad for those that use ferries and bad for the company,” says Polak.

BC Liberals have committed to putting one-third of the dollars that flow into the Prosperity Fund toward elimanating the debt at BC Ferries up to $1 billion.

BC Ferries has delayed service cuts for another year, officials from the corporation told the southern Sunshine Coast ferry advisory committee (FAC) Tuesday.

Corrine Storey, BC Ferries’ vice-president of customer services, said BC Ferries had finalized an extension to its contract with the provincial government the previous day, effectively cancelling the June 30 deadline to introduce service reductions.

With the deadline now extended to March 2014, the level of service will remain the same until then, she said.

As well, she said, the amount of cost savings by 2016 targeted under the plan has dropped from $26 million to $19 million.

“Has the issue gone away? No. But we can breathe a little easier,” Storey said.

This report was carried in Coast Reporter, published today.

March 31 marked the last day of BC Ferries’ reporting year and – surprise, surprise – ferry traffic to Gabriola is down once more, though not by very much.

Data released this week by BC Ferries shows vehicle traffic down by 0.36% from 348,723 to 347,478. Passenger traffic fell too, by 0.73% – from 777,495 to 771,783. That’s a much healthier picture than a year ago, when traffic had plummeted 4% compared to the year before. During 2012, traffic on Route 19 actually increased in some months.

So how does this compare with other ferries along the coast?  Take a look at the year-on-year change in traffic volumes in the table  below:

Sheila Malcolmson, Islands Trust Council Chair, writes:

On Tuesday in Victoria I joined with eight coastal Regional District Chairs to keep ferry issues on the provincial agenda. Over time we’ve met and described to the Ferry Commissioner, provincial Transportation Minister and the Premier what damage fare hikes have on coastal communities and economies. Sometimes our membership represents 70% of BC’s population (when Metro Vancouver Regional District joins in); this week it was Chairs from the Powell River, Capital,  Comox Valley, Mount Waddington, Sunshine Coast, Strathcona, Nanaimo, and Cowichan Valley Regional Districts.

To describe the impact on islanders, in both meetings I reported that fares have gone up so much that the Gabriola ferry route collected $1 million more in vehicle fares in 2012 than in 2004, even though ridership has fallen (this is the Gabriola Ferry Advisory Committee’s analysis). In the same time period, operating expenses increased by $2.6 million, with no extra service or benefit for ferry users. Since 2003’s Coastal Ferry Act, fares went up an average of 80% on 10 minor routes in the Islands Trust Area, and hiked as high as 133% on some routes and rate classes. Ferry fares already cover 85% of operating costs, more than any form of public transportation. Ridership, tourism, businesses, and families all suffer.

The Coastal RD Chairs outlined similar impacts in their own communities, saying fares had reached a tipping point long ago. The April 1 fare hike, at two-to-three times the rate of inflation, will further hammer down traffic and the well-being of our ferry-dependent communities. The Chairs argued there is a Provincial economic interest in moving goods, beyond just the well-being of ferry-dependent communities.

Meeting first with Transportation Minister Mary Polak, who lived in Haida Gwaii for three years, the Minister said she understands ferry-dependent communities and agreed with all our concerns, but won’t find more funds for BC Ferries in the near term and said some service reductions are a certainty (but not an end in themselves).

Pointing out the Crofton ferry leaves traffic at the dock daily when its weight restriction is exceeded (i.e. deck space is still available), I said this points to a vessel / route-fit problem. But with no vision for what BC Ferries will BE in the future (let alone having the wrong boats servicing some routes), we might get saddled with huge capital expenditures to buy carbon-copy replacements of the same boats that don’t suit our routes. The Ferry Commissioner flagged this in his 2012 report – we need to look way ahead and re-envision ferry service before investing in vessel replacement.

The Minister agreed with the need for a vision, but articulated only tweaks like Liquefied Natural Gas and sharing vessels between routes. Asked about a truly integrated regional transportation plan, having public transit fit with highways, rail and marine transit, the Minister said the Province is increasingly faced with the need to develop better interconnections, but said government gets silo-ed.

Most interesting to me was the Minister’s final comment that “It may be there’s a future decision to increase the portion of ferry costs funded provincially, but the challenge you face is more fundamental – if there are no more fare increases, there are still rising costs, like all programs operated by the Province, most with no charge to the user”. This has been exactly our point –  other provincial programs don’t get cut if they don’t run a profit, and it’s unfair for the Province to train its cost-cutting sights on ferries to the exclusion of other provincial infrastructure, especially when ferry users are already paying 85% of operating costs.

Meeting next with three NDP MLAs representing coastal communities, North Island MLA Claire Trevena started by saying we didn’t need an expensive consultation program to learn “we need ferries”, and says she wants to roll back April’s 4.1% fare increase.  Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons said he’ll advocate for a fare rollback, hoping “the cupboard isn’t bare”, and thinks Interior taxpayers will support that if new ferries are built in BC to support the economy. “We don’t expect only the sick to pay for health care”, Simons said. Esquimalt-Royal Roads MLA Maurine Karagianis is the new NDP ferry critic; having family on Mayne Island, she described seeing first-hand the effect of the quasi-private, user pay ideology over the past decade. Saying the NDP will talk more substantially in its platform, she agreed ferries are an important part of the provincial infrastructure and economy, and said a 5-30 year vision for BC Ferries is one of the first pieces of business for a NDP government, if they get the chance. She wants to see a more fiscally-lean system (listing several head-office-related costs), and said all options are on the table, including service efficiencies, but not to harm coastal communities.

Each meeting lasted an hour, but with the NDP hour broken up by a call to vote in the Legislature, we couldn’t go into as much detail on the provincial long-term vision for interconnected and coordinated transportation. I hope islanders will press for this in their meetings and All-Candidate debates in the May election.