The public outcry over high BC Ferries fares has paid a small dividend. This week, BC Ferries announced it was effectively cancelling its planned 1.9 per cent fare increase on April 1 by increasing its fuel rebate to passengers by the same amount.
That means this April will be the first time in 13 years that ferry travellers will not have to pay more money to take the same trip on the same ferry.
While technically the fare increase will still kick in, and could be “activated” at any time by cutting the fuel rebate, BC Ferries said it expects to maintain the rebate “for the foreseeable future” owing to the current price of fuel on world markets.
The concession is small change, of course, and a far cry from the 25 or even 50 per cent fare rollbacks that have been advocated by coastal communities pushing for the ferry service to be re-absorbed into the provincial transportation system. But, like the smaller-than-usual annual price caps approved by the BC Ferries Commissioner last year and the series of discounts that have been rolled out since the fall, the move demonstrates that the B.C. government and its ferry corporation have taken note of the public discontent over high fares and are proceeding with a certain amount of caution.
There are sound economic reasons for this.
In late 2014, the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) released a highly publicized study that estimated B.C.’s economy lost $2.3 billion in activity due to ferry fare increases between 2003 and 2013. Ridership declined by 11 per cent during that period, but the report calculated that passenger volumes would have grown by 19 per cent if fare increases had been held even to the rate of inflation. The net passenger loss was estimated at 31 million.
In other words, BC Ferries had dug itself into a hole and was slowly going down, taking ferry-dependent communities with it.
At the UBCM convention that year, Transportation Minister Todd Stone rejected the idea of changing the BC Ferries business model, calling instead for “innovation.” One of the innovative ideas he cited was the then newly-announced study of a fixed link to Gabriola Island – the same study that was pronounced dead on arrival when it was finally released last month. Not much to innovate with there.
Real innovation would mean getting serious about pressing Ottawa to start funding the B.C. ferry system the way it funds the Atlantic ferry system, then cutting fares and restoring service levels to the point that coastal communities can stop merely treading water.
Public pressure has had an impact, so the only option is to keep piling it on.
