Ferry Update

Greetings folks; 

I feel I need to follow up on the latest BC Ferries request for on-line feedback to the proposed schedule refinements.  I have had a number of questions from concerned residents about the process.

1. Our local FAC was not consulted on any of the proposed schedule options.  The early last sailing from Chemainus was a surprise to us as well. 

2. Some of you may have heard that one of our local BC Ferries crew member had been working on a possible schedule that would improve service and reduce costs. (Thanks Dave)  That was rejected by BCF, as it went over and above the provinces proposals.  From this, I sense that BCF is being restricted by the directives given to them by the province.

3. I have had many questions regarding reversing the direction to the morning school run. Please see the following rationale provided by Bill Dickie.  Thanks Bill.

There tends to be a lot of commercial traffic to Thetis on the first sailing from Chemainus. The present routing means that these take longer to get to Thetis, so they have less chance to return on the Thetis only sailing, (0910) and then have to take the frequently overloaded 1035 sailing.

The loading delays and overloads at Penelakut at 0745 due to commercial vehicles onboard for Thetis often make the school run late. This is especially bad on the days when the Penelakut school bus is going on a field trip.

This also gets contractors and other commuters to Thetis a bit earlier, but the downside is that it does mean that the Penelakut commuters arrive a bit later.

Unloading and loading at Thetis would be faster and safer because the large number of Penelakut students would not be onboard at that time. Not only are there more Penelakut students, but also many of them are much younger than the Thetis students, which makes them less conscious of safety concerns.

Some of the pain Thetis students would experience from catching the ferry a few minutes earlier should be offset by the space that will be available in the lounge.

This will give the large majority of students a (tiny bit) shorter day, while the small minority of students will have a (very slightly) longer day.

4. Please click here to go online to the BC Ferries website and complete the survey. There is a section for you to provide comment.  This is the spot where you can really let them know what you think.  The peak and off peak schedules are the same for our route.  You therefore have to choose between the provinces option or one of the two BC Ferries options.

5. Your local FAC will be meeting with BC Ferries staff on Monday March 3rd in Chemainus to review the survey results and settle on a schedule to be implemented for our route. This meeting will not be open to the public or the media so please fill out the survey. 

6. I will be sending around some information from the BC Ferry Coalition in a separate note.

If you have any questions, please send me a note…

Best Regards

Keith Rush FAC Chemainus-Thetis-Penelakut

keithrush17@gmail.com

Ph: 250-416-0013

Cell: 250-732-2766