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Petition calls for ‘resident priority’ loading

BC Ferries
ferry
An online petition is asking for priority loading on BC Ferries for Sunshine Coast residents. To sign the petition, see www.Change.org and search “Christy Clark: Give residents of BC Ferries dependent communities priority vehicle boarding”

A petition calling for “resident priority” vehicle loading on the Horseshoe Bay to Langdale BC Ferries route amassed more than 500 signatures within a week of being started online by Ryan Medd of Gibsons.

His petition, started on www.Change.org on Aug. 22, asks for priority loading for residents in communities without alternative road access routes – except for Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen, Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay and Duke Point to Tsawwassen. Medd said he decided not to include those routes because the island residents “have everything they need on the island.”  

In the letter that forms part of the petition Medd wrote:

“Residents of communities dependent upon BC Ferries for access (i.e., those communities without alternative road access of some sort) are treated no differently than any other BC Ferries passenger, particularly when it comes to accessing the service. This is not fair.”
He said residents of ferry-dependent communities mostly travel on BC Ferries out of necessity to get to doctors’ appointments, the airport, youth sporting events, and for many other reasons.

“Expecting residents to pay more (reserve) simply to access what is truly an essential service, is wrong,” Medd wrote in the letter.

The petition is to be served to Premier Christy Clark, Minister of Trans-portation and Infrastructure Todd Stone and BC Ferries CEO Mike Corrigan once Medd has collected more signatures.

Medd is a strong supporter of a tolled fixed link to the Lower Mainland and has started a website and Facebook page to promote the idea. He said he started the petition out of frustration and he’s heard a lot of that same frustration from community members who have signed the petition so far.

“I got fed up with continually having to change plans and/or waste time, because of full sailings,” Medd told Coast Reporter.

“As much as I have my fingers crossed for getting a fixed link, we’re going to be a good five years, minimum, before we can utilize that. In the meantime, residents shouldn’t have to plan on being at the ferry two hours in advance of the actual sailing, nor should we have to pay more via reservation to access this essential service.”

BC Ferries manager of public affairs Darin Guenette said BC Ferries only provides assured boarding right now for a “very few, and exceptional customers” like emergency services personnel on active duty.

He said he didn’t believe BC Ferries had ever received a formal request from the upper or lower Sunshine Coast to coordinate assured loading for locals in the past.

“This would take some very thorough discussion and analysis, as we would need strong consensus from communities that this should be set up,” Guenette said. “Experience tells us that providing a benefit to one customer tends to disadvantage another.” 

Currently, the only way to assure vehicle boarding with BC Ferries is to purchase a reservation and arrive at least 30 minutes early to make the sailing.

On the Langdale to Horseshoe Bay route, Guenette said, up to 50 per cent of vehicle deck space can be reserved per sailing.

“The reservation allocation is different for each of the two terminals because of how reserved vehicles need to be staged in the holding compounds,” he said. “This means that the approximate maximum allocation of reservations we would make available at Horseshoe Bay is 40 per cent and Langdale is 50 per cent. This includes all vehicle types.”

Medd said he hopes to amass thousands of signatures on his petition, titled “Christy Clark: Give residents of BC Ferries dependent communities priority vehicle boarding.”

“Given the number of people that live in ferry-dependent communities, that should be easily achievable,” he said.