Foot passengers travelling to the Sunshine Coast will benefit from half price fares on select sailings between Sept. 8 and Oct. 15.
The BC Ferries 50 per cent off the Coast promotion will cut foot passenger fares in half for those travelling between the Coast and Vancouver or the Coast and Powell River on select sailings Mondays (excluding Thanksgiving, Oct. 12), Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
BC Ferries executive director of public affairs Deborah Marshall said higher traffic numbers have generated more revenue for the company, which gave BC Ferries “the opportunity to test discounts.”
“On the Langdale run, vehicle traffic was up 2.54 per cent in July and passenger traffic was up 4.22 per cent in July compared to last year,” Marshall said. “For the first four months of this fiscal year (April to July), vehicle traffic on the Langdale run was up 4.24 per cent and passenger traffic was up 4.86 per cent as compared to the same period last year.”
The increase has prompted BC Ferries to test out its variable pricing model, which aims to offer discounts on off-peak sailings where there’s extra capacity on vessels.
The variable pricing is part of the Fare Flexibility and Digital Experience Initiative BC Ferries plans to start rolling out in 2017. The initiative proposes e-commerce and information technology upgrades that will change the way the company does business.
“BC Ferries has heard from our customers that they want more flexibility in how they book travel in the future, more certainty at the terminal that they will be able to board the sailing they want, and more opportunities for discounted fares,” said Mike Corrigan, BC Ferries’ president and CEO, about the initiative.
“We plan to invest in information technology and e-commerce systems that will meet those goals while incrementally increasing traffic and keeping fares lower than they would be under the current business model.”
Marshall said discounted fares for foot passengers between Sept. 8 and Oct. 15 is just one of the new promotions BC Ferries plans to test out in the coming months.
“Look for other promotions late fall,” she said.
Find out more at www.bcferries.ca
