6319 replies to this topic

[max.bravo]

Still seems reasonable to me.

Socialists crying “it’s our highway system” are just delusional. The cost difference to build, maintain, and travel a highway vs on a steel ship in saltwater isn’t apples and oranges, it’s Wonderbread and wild salmon.

$100 for car and driver seems about right.

[Mike K.]

Fair, but the east coast ferries get massive federal operating subsidies.

[lanforod]

It's a political football i doubt any party wants to touch. If you subsidize more - you get whiners from the rest of BC. If you don't, you get whiners from the Island. Lose-lose, hence the status quo.

[Matt R.]

Glad I still get my 30% discount on my run!

[Nparker]

...If you don't, you get whiners from the Island...

As long as the NDP form the government, they know they can count on at least half of the VI ridings to support them no matter what they do. If a centrist/right of centre government takes power they know they can't count on at least half of the Island ridings to support them, no matter what they do.

 

Why bother then to further subsidize the ferries?

[Victoria Watcher]

‘Step in the right direction’: BC Ferries workers get 7.75% to 20.75% raise

https://www.cheknews...-raise-1197290/

[Victoria Watcher]

I wish B.C. Ferries would start to understand that West Coast ferry users are not all the same; many of us don’t do ferries as a recreational activity, we do it because we live within the ferries service area.

 

I am often travelling for farm supplies from my Gulf Island location, and some trips I’m taking six ferries in a day, to get to the Lower Mainland and then back. +I can’t afford the risk of using reservations, as my whole day relies on using a system that is often not reliable and often not on time.

 

One ferry late by 30 minutes, a ­breakdown, or an overload at one of the six ferries, and I will be sleeping in my ­vehicle overnight.

 

And if I reserved the reservable ferries (good luck even getting a reservation on some routes), I would be out not only sleep, but cash.

 

One ferry on my route has slowed so much that the connection to the next ferry is now stressed; what used to be a tidy 15 minutes ahead of cut off for departure is now “the gate closes behind me,” and that’s when the highway is in good shape.

 

This is a transport system where one hand doesn’t know what the other is doing, there is no allowance for those of us who live on the islands or areas service is being provided to.

 

 

https://www.timescol...y-users-8590146

[Victoria Watcher]

An aging fleet, growing demand, spiralling costs: Rough seas for BC Ferries

 

 

It is one of the largest and most complex ferry systems in the world but decades of underfunding has left BC Ferries with a fleet that is barely able to meet peak demand when everything is running smoothly

 

https://www.timescol...ferries-8603457

 

 

Curious choice of words, the "underfunding" part.  

[Mike K.]

It’s time to stop giving the Gulf Islands such a sweet deal, maybe.

[Victoria Watcher]

It’s time to stop giving the Gulf Islands such a sweet deal, maybe.

 

New road and toll bridge to SSI would make so much sense.  And be an economic benefit to both SSI and Cowichan Valley.  It would free up some vessels and we could close 2 of the 3 terminals on SSI and use the land for somethig cool.

 

 

Better access to medical for ageing islanders too.

 

(no worries, Matt, it'll never happen)  

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 16 April 2024 - 06:37 AM.

[Mike K.]

1000%.

[vortoozo]

there is no allowance for those of us who live on the islands or areas service is being provided to.

 

 

It’s time to stop giving the Gulf Islands such a sweet deal, maybe.

 

The "allowance" is that BC Ferries offers frequent regular service, in most cases at a loss, to the smaller islands.

[Mike K.]

Indeed they do.

[Matt R.]

You guys are hilarious.

I’d love to stop subsidizing bc transit, but here we are. Bc ferries has supplied me with a good lifestyle. Give me a few more years then you can have all the bridges you want.

[Matt R.]

Oh, plus they give us 30% off the posted rate. Can’t beat it!

[Mike K.]

Small price to pay to entice you back to your islands.

[Matt R.]

I actually think we get better bus service here than you do in Sooke, too.

Edited by Matt R., 16 April 2024 - 10:59 AM.

[Mike K.]

You’re likely correct!

[vortoozo]

You’re likely correct!

 

Nah, you have to change to a ferry and another bus to get to Victoria.

In Sooke, you only have to change once

[Victoria Watcher]

Sometimes the transfer wait in Langford is longer than that ferry ride though.