The long-sought daily commuter sailing throughout the summer from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale will be a reality this year, B.C. Ferries has confirmed.
In what B.C. Ferries vice president Rob Clarke and the Southern Sunshine Coast Ferry Advisory Committee (FAC) are both calling "the elegant solution," B.C. Ferries has agreed to maintain a daily evening sailing as a pilot project without passing on costs to Route No. 3 travellers.
"B.C. Ferries is very pleased to announce that we have a solution to the long-standing concern of commuters for an evening sailing, five days a week," said Deborah Marshall, B.C. Ferries media relations officer. "That solution, as suggested by the ferry advisory committee, is for a 5:50 sailing, Monday through Friday."
The plan, credited to the FAC's David Dick, involves switching vessels and starting the afternoon shift 45 minutes earlier to allow for the 5:50 p.m. sailing. Pushing the shift earlier means the last sailing of the night on Tuesday and Wednesday will happen at 9:50 p.m. instead of the usual 10:35 p.m.
Jakob Knaus, the FAC's representative, said he and the rest of the FAC have been trying to secure an evening sailing for commuters for over three years after receiving constant complaints that the lack of a consistent evening sailing was disrupting home lives on the Coast.
Knaus said this will go a long way to make commuters feel their needs are finally being met.
Marshall said she believes the 5:50 p.m. sailing is timed well enough to avoid heavy congestion at Horseshoe Bay and the sailing should be able to leave on time consistently.
The cost of moving the sailing ahead by 45 minutes for the summer is about $70,000, a figure low enough that B.C. Ferries is willing to absorb it rather than pass it on, Marshall said.
Clarke offered words of praise for the FAC and its work in helping B.C. Ferries meet the needs of its customers.
"The committee has been working diligently for commuters and residents of the Sunshine Coast for some time now to resolve this important issue, and this is a fabulous example of the benefits of the Ferry Advisory Committee process," Clarke said.
The decision comes on the heels on of a study by Best Coast Initiatives (BCI) that found the lack of a consistent commuter-hour sailing in the summer was the number one grievance of the 1,200 regular commuters to Vancouver - so much so that some of those commuters were considering moving from the Sunshine Coast.
Michael McLaughlin, the survey's author, said the loss of commuters poses a dire economic risk to the Coast.
"You've got 1,200 people bringing in income to the Coast. The loss of any one of those is the same as losing a job. It's losing a resident. It's losing a consumer. It's losing a taxpayer," he said. "It would be a big economic loss to lose 25 or 30 per cent of those families. It would be the equivalent to Howe Sound Pulp and Paper closing down."
BCI was commissioned to do the survey by the local governments in hopes it would be a valuable tool when bargaining with B.C. Ferries.
"[B.C. Ferries] has always been saying 'you have no way to prove to us what people want.' Well, now there's the proof," McLaughlin said.
Although the survey warns of what could happen if the commuters decide to move because of scheduling, McLaughlin said there is also valuable information collected on how rising fares could hurt the Coast's economy.
"If you look at where the tipping points are where [people] say it would prohibit commuting, they're not far away from the current prices," he said.
Marshall said the pilot summer sailing will be evaluated in the fall.
