BC Ferries will be adjusting their daytime schedule in early September to help mitigate some of the recent reliability problems. The changes will take effect at the start of the Fall schedule on September 6.
Departures from Gabriola during the morning will be retimed to provide extra time for unloading and loading. Ferries will leave Gabriola on weekdays at 5:30, 6:30, 7:40 (instead of 7:35), then at 8:55, 10:05; 12:00; 1:10 and 3:10. On Saturdays and Sundays, there will be no change except for the retiming of the 3:15 from Gabriola to 3:10pm. Later services are unchanged.
Return times from Nanaimo will also be revised from 8 am onwards, with departures at 8:15, 9:30, 11:20, 12:35 and 1:50 Monday to Friday. Departures from 3:50pm onwards are unchanged and there is also no change on Saturdays or Sundays.
BC Ferries’ Director of Fleet Operations Strategy, Peter Simpson, says “This schedule is designed to be more reliable than the current schedule but is not intended to replace the work or our consultation efforts toward finding a better solution.” The FAC is working with BC Ferries to develop alternative options for the community to consider in late September/early October, with a target of early 2015 implementation for the preferred option.
FAC Chair, John Hodgkins, believes that the interim adjustments will help restore some confidence in the service, which has suffered delays of more than 20 minutes on an almost daily basis since May. “It will also help relieve any additional delays created during the reconstruction of the ticket booth at Nanaimo Harbour” he said.
The interim schedule from September 6 is now available on the BC Ferries website and on our Ferry Schedule page.
Too bad it’s not working.