Commissioner okays fare hikes

BC Ferries has been given approval to raise its fares by as much as 12 per cent over the next three years.

The BC Ferry Commission announced Monday, October 1 that it has set a price cap of 4.1 per cent in 2013, 4.0 per cent in 2014 and 3.9 per cent in 2015.

Representatives of coastal ferry users say the new increases raise questions about the effectiveness of government response to the ferry affordability gap. In January, a BC Ferry Commission study found that ferry fares were then at the tipping point of affordability and causing hardship in coastal communities.

The Ferry Advisory Committee Chairs are concerned that fare hikes are double the inflation rate. “Fares will continue to grow much faster than people’s incomes unless government faces the causes of the affordability crisis,” said Tony Law of Hornby-Denman ferry advisory committee in a news release.

The price cap also incorporates efficiency targets and provides for service level adjustments still to be determined through a public consultation process led by the province. The efficiency target has been set at $54.2 million over four years. Service level adjustments are expected to contribute $30 million to keeping the price cap lower than would otherwise be the case.

It’s expected that some routes servicing Powell River will be under the microscope when the provincial government starts public consultation sometime this fall.

Meanwhile, BC Ferries is planning upgrades to both the Westview and Little River terminals in 2013.

The company has organized a meeting with the Northern Sunshine Coast Ferry Advisory Committee and stakeholders on Thursday, October 11 to review options for service. The initial meeting will be followed by community consultations, which BC Ferries will organize.

Powell River Regional Economic Development Society (PRREDS) has distributed surveys to local businesses about how they use BC Ferries. The information gathered will be used to inform feedback in the upcoming consultation processes, about upgrades to the terminals, vessel replacement on the Powell River-Comox and Powell River-Texada Island routes and future service levels.

“We’re trying to find out exactly which runs and routes are most important to businesses,” said Scott Randolph, PRREDS manager. “It gives us an idea of how we best make sure their needs are served during that time.”

PRREDS plans to make ferry service an issue in the provincial election next spring, Randolph said. “It’s the single, most important issue facing this community in regard to its economic survival,” he said. “We’re not saying sustainable anymore. We’re saying survival. It really is at that point. We’ve been at the tipping point in regard to fares and affordability for a while now and I think how vessel replacement and service levels work out is really going to play a role in how this community goes forward.”

Transportation is the big issue for a community that’s only accessible by water or air, Randolph added. “We need to resolve this issue and find a solution once and for all,” he said. “We’re going to put every party on notice that’s running to form government that we need this issue fixed.”