Historically, the B.C. Day long weekend sees the most traffic for BC Ferries all year. But for 2021, Route 3’s traffic was down from the same holiday weekend in 2019.
Compared to the pre-pandemic B.C. Day long weekend of 2019, traffic on the Langdale-Horseshoe Bay route between July 30 and Aug. 2 was down by 12 per cent for passengers and three per cent for vehicles, BC Ferries’ Astrid Chang told Coast Reporter via email.
Chang said 43 per cent of deck space was allocated for vehicle reservations on Route 3 for the B.C. Day long weekend.
On July 28 – before the long weekend – some residents told Coast Reporter all the vehicle lanes at Horseshoe Bay read “reservation only” for traffic to Langdale. BC Ferries did not address Coast Reporter’s question about when this began nor for how long it would be in effect.
By 12:43 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 1, the parking lot at Horseshoe Bay terminal was full, BC Ferries announced in a service email. Chang said parking lots at major terminals fill up quickly on summer weekends, and customers can choose public transit or arrange a drop-off to avoid congestion when possible.
On the holiday Monday, Aug. 2, passengers on several routes had reservations for sailings that were not actually scheduled due to a “scheduling error”. Route 3 was not one of the routes affected.
“Customers who were affected were provided full refunds and accommodated on sailings routed through Swartz Bay,” Chang said, adding BC Ferries is investigating the cause of the error.
