The holidays bring a bonus gift to the 1,000-plus Coasters who commute to work by ferry: They will probably have a few days off from the ordeal.
It’s a long commute at its best, but it’s shortest for people who live in West Howe Sound. That doesn’t mean those commuters have it easy.
For instance, my husband, who can walk from our home to the Langdale terminal, starts his commute on the 6:20 a.m. sailing. He boards a bus within minutes of arriving in Horseshoe Bay, and he almost always gets to work in New Westminster by 8:25. But he often can’t catch the evening ferry he aims for.
Traffic can delay a bus, and occasionally buses are cancelled. Come January, the situation is set to get worse. I have a bit of advice for commuters: avoid working overtime.
My husband, Al Hyland, sometimes works late and races to the 257 Blue Bus. On Wednesday, Dec. 13, he said the 7 p.m. bus hadn’t come. “That happens a lot,” he complained.
He had arrived at the first stop, at Dunsmuir Street, at 6:58 p.m., according to the Telus network time on his cell phone. There was no bus in sight, not at the bus stop, and not in the distance, heading away.
The next bus appeared and then left the stop on schedule at 7:08 p.m. But it reached Horseshoe Bay four minutes too late to buy a ticket for the 7:50 ferry. My husband waited two hours for the next one.
Starting Jan. 2, the gap will be longer. Anyone who misses the second-to-last sailing will have to wait three hours for the last ferry at 10:55 p.m. That would be harsh for anyone who works through the dinner hour, especially if they need to commute early the next day.
Gareth Rowlands, transit manager of the Blue Bus system, said a bus might arrive late at its initial stop because of mechanical difficulties or traffic. “Traffic was a nightmare yesterday,” he said, the day after my husband missed the boat.
I suggested traffic couldn’t have been too bad because the 7:08 bus had been on time. The earlier bus may have been rerouted, causing it to travel to the stop on more congested roads, he said. It may have arrived after the 7:08 bus had left, he noted.
So I asked why there was even a 7:08 p.m. bus scheduled, or a 5:08 bus, for that matter. Both reach Horseshoe Bay just after the Langdale ticket cut-off. They don’t align with the Nanaimo or Bowen ferries, either.
Rowlands said those buses might aim to pick up arriving rather than departing ferry passengers.
“That’s why people should be catching the seven o’clock,” he said.
Yet even getting to Dunsmuir Street by 7 p.m. won’t help when the bus doesn’t come.
Anyone having a problem with Blue Bus service can call the bus information line at 604-987-7777, Rowlands suggested. He said the Blue Bus and the ferries consult with each other to make sure their systems connect to serve passengers well.
Darin Guenette, manager of public affairs at BC Ferry Services, said the three-hour gap planned for nighttime sailings came from “an extensive analysis and engagement process” this year.
Many people might have not participated in the engagement process. They were probably too tired from commuting.
Whether or not you commute, may you enjoy a holiday rest and the rest of the holidays.
