As ferry fares rise, ferry traffic slumps

Residents of rural areas served by BC Ferries are looking at yet another increase in ferry rates with a wary eye, the most recent increase is a continuation of a bid by BC Ferries to recoup revenues by charging more for users.

A scenario which seems to be a double edged sword for the rural areas, as with the cost increasing, the usage then declines, especially when it comes to non residential visitors. Which means that the Ferry Corporation seeks more revenues again and again from those that depend on the service the most the rural residents of the coastal communities, a vicious little circle that has them wondering and worrying about their future.

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The situation is one that the BC Ferries Ferry Advisory Committees are expected to keep a watchful eye on, though their published minutes are slow to come to the public's attention.

For instance the BC Ferries website last provided public minutes for the North Coast Ferry Advisory Committee from its Vancouver meeting of March of 2007.

Chaired by Steve Smith, the minutes feature a number of contributions from Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond who is a member of the Committee, and to his credit, as quoted in the meeting's minutes he did inquire about two items of concern to local residents: 1) is the ‘user pay model’ reasonable for the whole province? And 2) is a 2 tier fare system for residents and tourists desirable and possible?

However, as there are no follow up minutes posted to the BC Ferry website for any subsequent meetings, (one was scheduled it seems for October 4, 2007 and we assume another must have taken place sometime this year, at least we hope...) we're not sure if much ever came of that suggestion.

Judging by the escalating rates of increase since that meeting of March of 2007, we can assume that the prospects aren't very good for locals at this moment. Concern and action it seems may have a rather wide gap in time, especially when it comes to the resolution of concerns of rural ferry users .

Perhaps it may be time for the committee members to revisit those ideas and get back to the folks that use the ferries on a regular basis, providing them with the details of their efforts and results.

As for the issues of concern for the moment, they were outlined in a piece in the Monday Daily News.

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Ferry users count cost of rising fares on their towns
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Monday, April 07, 2008
Pages one and two

Users of B.C. Ferries' non-major routes are brushing up on their math, to try to keep track of what they're going to be paying for travel, and to try to figure out where it will end, say critics.

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Fares increases coming on April 1 are the second round of hikes within five months. Together, the two hikes have boosted minor route fares by 11 per cent this year.

The increase on the North Coast will not come into effect until the end of September.

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However, when it does, members of B.C. Ferries Ferry Advisory Committees say the rise will keep fares on the trajectory that started shooting upward after 2003.

By 2011 the cumulative increases are expected to hit triple-digit percentages.

And the rising ticket price is being compounded by lower numbers of passengers taking B.C. Ferries.

"The people needed to keep the communities running are having trouble getting by, and visitor dollars are declining," said Ian Ralston, Ferry Advisory Committee chair for Thetis/Kuper.

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As ferry fares are heading skyward, ferry traffic is steadily slumping.

Through 2007, traffic on the minor routes fell by more than 45-thousand passengers and 28-thousand vehicles.

The unintended consequence of fare hikes is creating complications for B.C. Ferries and stress on communities, he said.

For B.C. Ferries, traffic declines run counter to projections, and mean lost revenue that must be made up elsewhere, likely from even greater fare increases in the long run.

For communities, this magnifies the challenges they face.

Other jurisdictions with ferry-dependent regions have faced similar problems and recognized the need to take action.

The Ferry Advisory Committee Chairs are looking at examples of how this unsustainable trend has been addressed elsewhere.

The FACC is composed of chairs of all 12 Ferry Advisory Committees, representing B.C.'s ferry-dependent communities along the length of B.C.'s coast.

Gary Coons, the New Democrat ferry critic, said people in ferry-dependent communities will be getting hit with a double whammy, with an increase in both gas prices and ferry fares on the same day.

"Since Gordon Campbell privatized our ferries and abandoned coastal communities, fare increases are so frequent and dramatic that coastal residents have no time to brace themselves or adjust," said Coons.

"Coastal communities in B.C. are going to pay more today, and fares will rise again after Gordon Campbell's gas tax takes effect in July."