310 replies to this topic

[Danma]

Wait, he means a sky gondola, not a boat gondola? OK, then.

 

Yes, not canal gondolas! That would be a fast trip from Royal Bay to the ocean, at least... as long as you survive the rapids going down!

[max.bravo]

to be clear... he is pitching a gondola from elsewhere in thr westshore TO the royal bay ferry dock, where commuters would THEN board a ferry to get to downtown?

This has got to be among the worst ideas ever pitched for south island commuters. At a time when everyone is going remote and can hardly stomach even a normal car commute, this guy wants us to take a bus to the gondola to the ferry, all instead of driving 25 minutes. Yikes

[Victoria Watcher]

i think the gondola just serves the (long-term/day) parking lot.  if you take a bus you'd skip the gondola.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 05 January 2021 - 01:11 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

B.C. willing to consider Colwood’s request for commuter ferry study

 

https://www.cheknews...y-study-733267/

 

 

 

 

Fleming said he’s focused on getting the most people out of their vehicles for the money available within his ministry.

 

“What has the potential to move the most people at the greatest cost benefit is continuing to approve the bus on shoulder routes, the express routes,” he said.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 January 2021 - 10:06 AM.

[spanky123]

^ Like the E&N, just wait a few years and you can keep rehashing the same ideas over and over.

 

Anyone heard of the cool idea to have a passenger ferry service between downtown Nanaimo and Vancouver?!

Edited by spanky123, 13 January 2021 - 11:07 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

$1M for a 9-month study too.  is it to be a team of 20 working full-time on the study?

 

also the problem with these studies is that they are rarely right in the end.  and it's because they will study long and hard an never find a very similar situation in the first world to what we have here.  that they can study to see what there was before and after a ferry.  it's a crapshoot.  look at the blue boat replacement.  every survey said people would take it.  but even at $5 nobody would take it.  so it closed.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 January 2021 - 11:06 AM.

[Mike K.]

I think there is merit for a water-based ferry from Colwood, but not with the gondola stuff. Just have a connector operating to CFB Esquimalt and downtown Victoria. It's a neat idea for a coastal city and if the residents of Colwood and Langford want to subsidize it, go for it.

[Victoria Watcher]

Just have a connector operating to CFB Esquimalt and downtown Victoria.

 

why would we expect CFB employees suddenly to enjoy public transit?  when right now their percentage of public transit users is probably lowest in the city of any employee or other group.  on average - not totally there are outliers - public transit is used by lower wage people.  low-wage jobholders and students.  that's not CFB employees.  Not is it hospital employees, look at how few of them use transit.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 January 2021 - 11:10 AM.

[Mike K.]

The Blue Boats they used to have were actually very well used. But when it went private there was little appetite for the fares that were required.

 

I know we can afford to dream here and have some fun, but if we're being honest with ourselves, Metchosin being a municipality of zero density and its population have decreased between 2011 and 2016, that is a huge impediment to any mass transit services operating out of Colwood. If Metchosin was building out like Colwood is you'd eventually get sufficient density to support such a service.

[Victoria Watcher]

The Blue Boats they used to have were actually very well used. But when it went private there was little appetite for the fares that were required.

 

yes they were FREE and frequent and full of only your comrades - no general public.   that's a big motivator.  but as soon as they added a nominal fee nobody wanted to use them.  the proposed new ferry will always be slower and more expensive and less frequent.  not a good indicator it'll get a better reception.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 January 2021 - 11:17 AM.

[spanky123]

Worth noting that the TC is not properly representing the BC ferries study. The study found that under certain sets of assumptions (ie reduced staffing per ferry, better fuel costs, etc) the operating costs of a ferry service could be covered BUT NOT THE CAPITAL COSTS.

 

So in other words if someone gave us free ferries and did all of the work to construct terminals for free then the service could be profitable if 4,000 people a day used it at $5.75 a trip (and subject to the above assumptions).

[Victoria Watcher]

and we'll need a free gondola!

 

mike k.'s bridge looks better and better daily.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 January 2021 - 11:21 AM.

[spanky123]

The best thing about being a consultant for studies for the Government is that they pay really well and there is zero accountability. All you have to be willing to do is write the conclusion you are told to write. 

[Barrrister]

Or you can write three or four totally conflicting conclusions and then everyone is happy. And to let the politicians off the hook the only firm conclusion is that further studies are required.

[Victoria Watcher]

“It’s shifting people out of single vehicles and figuring out how do we encourage people to move around our region in different ways,” he said. “The ferry feeds into that concept of living on an island, utilizing our waterways and having a different stress-free transit movement.

 

“To think about jumping on a ferry for 10 to 15 minutes, landing in downtown Victoria, doing your workday and then, at the end of the day, you get to spend 15 minutes on the water returning home — I think, from a quality of life standpoint, it’s just tremendous.”

 

As well, a ferry would ease the pressure on roads and highways that currently carry all the commuters, he said.

 

“We have to understand that we cannot build roads forever, especially here on an island. We’re running out of land,” he said.

 

 

 

 156 countries have a higher population density than Vancouver Island.  including the USA, Brazil, Ireland, Greece, Romania, Spain, Egypt, Cuba, Turkey, Austria, Poland, France, Denmark, China, Italy, Germany, UK, Japan, Belgium, Netherlands, India, and Sweden.  but ya OK rob, we are "running out of land".  54% of vancouver island is "crown land" too.

 

 

 

“So if we’re going to continue to see population growth and we understand what our traffic issues are, this is one of the solutions.”

 

https://www.timescol...aves-1.24310295

 

 

 

 

 

i'm sure the mayor means well.  but he's an orthopedic shoe salesman.  and has no idea what he is talking about.

 

the "10-15 minute sail" is actually a 45-75 minute hassle.  twice a day.  every workday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View Royal Mayor David Screech, who chairs the transportation committee, disagreed with the decision. He worries that the ferry and rail projects will overshadow more pressing issues identified by CRD staff and the community, including asking the province to accelerate the RapidBus program and improve transit service in rural areas.

 

 

“[Staff] were recommending that the rail and the ferry remain long-term priorities and goals, and not that we take immediate action on those,” he said. “I support the ferry and I support the rail, but we have to be realistic when we’re going with ‘asks’ to a higher level of government. I think we’re just diluting our message, frankly, and I was just sad to see that happen quite so quickly.”

 

 

 

 

 

screech is right.  but we hardly even need RapidBus now.   we just need a bus with less stops between colwood and downtown.  

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 22 April 2021 - 04:53 AM.

[Lorenzo]

Unless this ferry drops you within a block of your office, I can't see too many people using it.

[Barrrister]

I think the Victoria city council is working hard to solve the problem but making sure that there are less jobs in downtown Victoria in years to come. Certainly less people are going downtown to shop. 

[splashflash]

Here is what the staff report says about the ferry and rail:

 

Numerous rail studies indicate that ridership capacity would be uncompetitive to bus transit and that costs are prohibitively expensive. Island Corridor Foundation have questioned the findings of these reports and believe that the costs could be substantially reduced. Rail service would be unable to enter the employment and service hub of downtown Victoria.

Preliminary investigation of a passenger ferry shows that ridership capacity would be significantly smaller than other modes of transit and that population density and land use patterns would be challenged to sustain a viable passenger ferry service.

[Victoria Watcher]

The Capital Regional District (CRD) transportation committee voted April 21 to ask for a full feasibility study on a passenger ferry between the West Shore and downtown Victoria.

 

“In a region surrounded by water, it would be irresponsible not to fully explore the feasibility of marine travel as one approach to addressing traffic congestion and achieving our active transportation and clean energy goals,” said Colwood Mayor Rob Martin, a member of the committee.

 

https://www.vicnews....victoria-ferry/

 

maybe this guy does drink at work all day.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 22 April 2021 - 11:00 AM.

[Mike K.]

I don't think fast-moving, short-distance passenger marine vessels are particularly environmentally-friendly.