Cuts to sailings, seniors 'a done deal'

The province plans to chop the BC Ferries seniors' discount in half and cut eight per cent of overall sailings starting next April, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Todd Stone announced Monday.

And while Stone said upcoming public engagement sessions would look at ways to "tweak" the planned cuts, he added: "The two decisions have substantially been made."

Stone's comments confirmed the cuts are "a done deal," Powell River - Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons said in a phone interview from Victoria after the Nov. 18 media briefing.

"What I find most troubling is we were promised consultation before the election, and now we're not getting consultation. We're getting lip service," Simons said.

The service cuts include the first Sunday round trip between Langdale and Horseshoe Bay (Route 3) in the off-peak season -for a projected savings of $200,000 to 2016 - and the last round trip between Earls Cove and Saltery Bay (Route 7) -for a savings of $750,000.

For Route 3, the cuts represent 40 round trips per year, or 1.3 per cent of sailings, while for Route 7 they represent 365 round trips, or 12.7 per cent of sailings.

In total, the province expects to realize $14 million in savings by eliminating 6,895 round trips from 16 minor and northern routes. Stone said the targeted sailings were the most under-utilized, usually operating at less than 20 per cent capacity.

"Many are late at night and have low ridership. In some cases, passengers are outnumbered by the crew," he said.

Among the hardest hit, Route 18 between Texada Island and Powell River will lose 834 round trips per year - a 23 per cent cut -while the Port Hardy to Bella Coola run will be eliminated.

"We acknowledge absolutely that there's going to be some pain with these decisions," Stone said, but called the cuts "balanced and thoughtful."

Simons said the changes would affect his riding "massively."

"We are all affected - families, seniors, businesses," he said.

Simons said he couldn't believe the plan was to cut the first Sunday round trip between Langdale and Horseshoe Bay, as the same move in 2008 was reversed under then-premier Gordon Campbell after it sparked a huge public outcry.

"People go to church, they go to Whistler, they go to ballet class, they go to the airport. That first sailing is essential," Simons said.

The proposed cuts to Route 3 would eliminate the 6:20 a.m. Sunday sailing from Langdale and 7:20 a.m. sailing from Horseshoe Bay during off-peak season.

"With this reduction, a schedule change to the first sailing from Langdale is also being proposed, revising the 8:20 a.m. sailing to depart one hour earlier at 7:20 a.m.," the province's discussion guide says.

The guide says the utilization rate on the sailing averaged 15 per cent.

For seniors 65 and older, the plan is to reduce the Monday to Thursday passenger discount from 100 per cent to 50 per cent starting in April 2014, for a projected savings of $6 million per year.

The seniors' discount, which has been in place since 1976, now costs B.C. taxpayers $15 million, Stone said. The savings would be used to reduce pressure for fare increases starting in 2016, after the previously announced fare hikes of four per cent in April 2014 and 3.9 per cent in April 2015 have taken effect.

Stone said the government's plan for the coastal ferry service was guided by "affordability, efficiency and sustainability - all the while protecting basic service."

Keeping fares affordable, he said, means fare increases would be "trending at the rate of inflation."

Simons said the province had other options than slashing the seniors' discount.

"It seems pretty harsh in one fell swoop to add what could be a significant impact on their cost of living," he said.

He called the service cuts "a bad business plan" that ignored the economies of coastal communities and focused solely on BC Ferries' bottom line. Rather than using utilization rates as the only benchmark to determine levels of service, the province could have looked at running smaller vessels on some routes, he said.

Of the 16 routes facing cuts, Route 3 had the highest annual utilization rate, at 54.5 per cent, while Route 7 averaged 26.3 per cent, with rates based strictly on vehicle traffic.

To achieve its target of $18.9 million in service cuts by 2016, the province will also identify $4.9 million in savings on the three major routes connecting Vancouver Island to the Lower Mainland, following a separate public engagement process.

The province's public engagement for the Sunshine Coast is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 30, at the Cedars Inn in Gibsons, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

While calling the consultation process "a bit of a farce, as far as I'm concerned," Simons said he encouraged people "to take part in any consultation, real or imagined."

The discussion guide detailing the planned cuts can be viewed at www.coastalferriesengagement.ca. The province will accept comments up to Dec. 20.