A small adjustment to the newly modified Saltery Bay-Earls Cove ferry schedule could bring about large improvements for Powell River businesses.
The new schedule, which started last week, has the first sailing of the day leaving Saltery Bay at 4:15 am. Vehicles arrive at Langdale just in time to see the 6:20 am sailing leaving. They have a two-hour wait for the next sailing.
The vast majority of Powell River residents have experienced the frustration of arriving at a terminal just after a ship has sailed. For business owners who rely on the first sailing to complete a full day of work, the sight of the departing ship means lost income, a hit that no one can afford.
Expressing concerns about the first sailing from Saltery Bay is not a new issue for business owners in the community. In 1998, BC Ferries proposed dropping the first sailing, a plan that led to a 1,000-signature petition and a public meeting, at which every speaker pointed out how dropping the first ferry would adversely affect small businesses in the community which depend on it to get back and forth to the Lower Mainland in one day.
At the time, BC Ferries representatives explained the change in schedule was due to none other than the Queen of Chilliwack, to help the aging vessel run on time. Fast forward 15 years and, sad but true, the modified schedule is once again designed to allow the 35-year-old Queen of Chilliwack to run on time.
While the first sailing of the day has never been overwhelmingly used by residents, it is vital for businesses and others who need it.
That point will be stressed this fall as the province launches another round of talking to residents in coastal communities on “a route-specific ferry adjustment plan to ensure the sustainability of the ferry system.” Public consultation on the plan, which is intended to save $19 million by 2016, is scheduled for November and December.
The province is expected to table suggestions for cutting little-used sailings. However, communities are prepared to point out why those sailings are critical to the people who need them.
All of this, of course, underlines the fact that the ferry system should be part of the provincial highway system and that the government should move away from the quasi-private company it created back to public ownership.
In the meantime, we hope that BC Ferries listens to Powell River small businesses and makes adjustments to the modified schedule on the Saltery Bay-Earls Cove route. Small businesses in ferry-dependent communities are already disadvantaged by fare increases. Designing a schedule that doesn’t take their needs into consideration is another blow to them, one they can ill afford.
