BC Ferries still want us to go to Duke Point

Last week, BC Ferries produced a document entitled Opportunities for Enhanced Efficiency in Performance Term Three to the BC Ferry Commissioner, as part of their Performance Term Three Submission, from which the Commissioner will determine price caps for each of the route groups for a four-year period from 2010 until 2016.

Emphasising that these opportunities for enhanced efficiency are not, in fact BC Ferries' proposals, but are "matters of public policy for consideration", the report goes on to propose the scrapping of two southern routes and significant changes to several others. Among the changes suggested is the following:

Change in Terminal Location for Route 19 – Gabriola to Nanaimo Harbour

Cost savings and better utilization of the Quinsam in the form of additional sailings, could be realized from moving the Route 19 terminal on Vancouver Island from Nanaimo Harbour to BC Ferries’ Duke Point Terminal. Please note this option was rejected by local residents in a recent survey.

Also up for consideration - and being promoted in order to deliver cost savings on fleet and terminal renewals - is the withdrawal of Route 12 between Mill Bay and Brentwood Bay, the elimination or restructuring of Route 9 (Salt Spring - Tsawwassen) and the closure of Salt Spring's Long Harbour terminal. Plans for a cable ferry between Buckley Bay and Denman Island are also still on the table.

None of us would argue that some of BC Ferries' vessels are long overdue retirement, and maybe it is time to review the future of the Mill Bay route (the only route in the BC Ferries' network for which there is a road-based alternative) but we must hope that the Ferry Commissioner will not be tempted to reopen the Duke Point debate once more......

The full text of the BC Ferries' Efficiency Statement can be found here.