Editor:
Re: Letter to the editor by Bert Hogendoorn regarding B.C. Ferries (Coast Reporter, July 30).
We can assure the residents of our southern Sunshine Coast there is no complacency by our Ferry Advisory Committee.
Since the inception of the public relations efforts by B.C. Ferries, we have always vigorously defended the discounts on pre-paid tickets and now the Experience Card. This discount is in force on all routes serving ferry dependent communities, including the southern Sunshine Coast. We have vehemently agitated for a uniform discount fleet-wide in the face of our route having the second lowest percentage discount - unfortunately, without success.
With the current policy expressed in the Coastal Ferry Act of "users pay all" we have suffered an additional fare increase per April 1 to come up to the route earnings mandated by the commissioner.
As long as these discounts are offered, we shall never let them disappear for our Route 3.
We are fully aware that the usage of the Experience Card will increase the higher the fares climb, and the harder it will become to reach the earning levels proscribed by the commissioner, but we shall never let go of the discounts.
Jakob Knaus, chair, SSC Ferry Advisory Committee
