BC Ferries’ latest traffic statistics published today reveal a massive 10.5% reduction in vehicle traffic on the Gabriola route compared to the same month last year. That’s one of the biggest traffic losses on any gulf island route. Passenger traffic during May fell by more than 7%.
It’s early days, of course, but the 4% fare increase in April, the new charges for seniors’ travel and the cuts in service on April 28th have all hit home in May, leading to lowest May traffic levels on Route 19 for many years. At the same time, we’re seeing overloads on a scale we haven’t witnessed this early in the year.
The FAC has already asked BC Ferries for an urgent review of the new schedule. Vehicle and passenger statistics for May can be found on our Recent Performance page.
Very cryptic
Sent from my iPad
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Hopefully not cryptic Linda – just factual. Every change brings a reaction; sometimes temporary, sometimes a lasting shift in travel patterns. One month’s figures demonstrate a strong reaction to a trio of measures that have been imposed in a very short space of time. The picture looks grim, but we need to see more than one month to fully understand the true impact.