Commuters, travellers and anyone who relies on products from the Lower Mainland should brace themselves for higher costs as B.C. Ferries fares are going up April 1.
Fares are expected to climb by about 8.4 per cent for both walk-on and vehicle passengers. The cost for adult walk-on passengers will be $12.85, up from $11.85, and vehicles will be $43.20, up from $39.90.
Ferry commissioner Martin Crilly approved a package of increases on all routes on Friday, Feb. 12.
Among the increases is a scheduled 5.68 per cent increase for all minor routes (including Langdale) and an increase on fare caps, which are the maximum allowable average fare.
"For the Langdale route, we have been charging fares less than the maximum under the price cap so [the commissioner] has indicated that we could increase that by an additional 3.4 per cent," said Deborah Marshall, B.C. Ferries spokesperson. "But our tariff team did an analysis, and they figured 2.7 is sufficient."
Marshall said the 2.7 per cent includes a .5 per cent increase to cover the costs of students travelling on ferries on school-based trips.
She said the reason the average fare for Langdale travellers was lower than the ferry cap was because so many riders use experience cards to bring costs down.
Despite the increases, Marshall said fares have been higher in the past, and B.C. Ferries does not expect fewer people will travel.
"We don't believe they will have a negative impact on our traffic. Two years ago we had fuel surcharges in place in the summer months it's actually going to be cheaper than it was two summers ago," she said.
Jakob Knaus, Southern Sunshine Coast ferry advisory committee representative, said the overall increase in fares will be "devastating" for Coast residents.
"We have a certain segment in our population that can scarcely muster enough money to get on the ferries now," Knaus said.
He added the increases will drive up not only the cost of travel but the cost of living on the Sunshine Coast, as the higher fares will mean higher transportation costs for goods shipped to the Coast.
"Our cost of living will go up because of the fares regardless of whether you travel on B.C. Ferries or not. It will impact basically everything we consume on the Sunshine Coast. Everything has an element of ferry fares in it," he said.
Despite opposition to the fare increases, Knaus is lobbying B.C. Ferries to maintain a 5:30 p.m. sailing from Horseshoe Bay during the summer on a trial basis, something long sought by commuters. After consultation with the community, Knaus said there is an interest to have the sailing, even if the extra cost of running it will be spread out for all riders on the route.
After crunching numbers with the commission, Knaus said an additional 2.5 per cent increase seemed feasible, but he would work to lower that.
But Knaus said that cost would be worth it in the big picture.
"We've got about 1,200 commuters. About 800 or 900 are regular commuters, and they complain bitterly that if they can catch a ferry only at 6:30 or 7 p.m., their family lives during the summer are disrupted," he said. "Some of the commuters complained that if there is no remedy in the foreseeable future, they might leave the Coast. These commuters contribute quite a lot to the economy on the Coast because their take-home pay is normally much higher than others on the Coast. From an economic point of view, we don't want to lose these people."
