Editor:
So BC Ferries has adjusted its schedule to allow later sailings and to ensure the 6:20 a.m. sailing and the 5:30 p.m. return are available. I have to admit it’s a start, but is it a solution? A 10:35 Horseshoe Bay sailing (starting in January – we are told to be patient while being abused till then) does not help much, since one must leave Vancouver by about 9 p.m. to get home. They used to have a midnight sailing, which seems like it might be more useful. And will everyone fit on the 5:30?
They talk about us waiting five years before we get more service, so with current overloads, our economy will be battered further. Ferries are constantly overloaded and it’s been getting worse and worse. What happened to the measurements that were going to allow you to pay for the space you took, rather than have a smart car equal a Land Rover?
There is some suggestion about technology improvements. If you could buy a ticket like modern conveyances (i.e., planes, buses and trains) there would be no lineups. Instead they want to expand parking and shopping and install ticket booths in Langdale, while people wait and they employ extra staff to manage the parking lots. Who does their planning? (Oh, he’s now CEO.) Until BC Ferries management are told to move to the communities served by the ferries and have to use them to get home, don’t expect things to improve.
Our government should actually solve this long-standing problem, but I won’t hold my breath as it doesn’t appear we are politically valuable. Nicholas Simons says, “I’m not at the table where those policy decisions are made.”
Meanwhile, Pacific Ferries has suspended service because Vancouver Parks won’t let them use the dock without paying.
Ted McNicol, Gibsons
