Cruise ship shuttle services out for tender

The task of moving more than 100,000 cruise ship passengers and crew between Ogden Point and the Inner Harbour via a new boat service and by vehicles has gone out to tender. A marine shuttle service between James Bay and Ship Point in downtown Victoria is expected to start May 4 and run to Sept. 29. The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority tender for the marine shuttle closes on Feb. 22. The water shuttle would augment other shuttle service by buses and would run Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, the tender document states. The tender for vehicle shuttle service closes on Feb. 18. That contract would start April 1. This year, the authority expects 211 ship visits, carrying 466,924 passenger. Not all passengers get off the ship while it is in dock. Of those that do, not all ride the shuttle bus. Last year, about 25 to 30 per cent of all passengers and crew who came ashore at Ogden Point terminal were carried downtown on shuttle buses, the harbour authority said. It estimates about 130,000 passengers and crew used the service. April 17 marks the start of this year’s cruise season, with the Zaandam scheduled to arrive at 2 p.m. The final ship to pull in will be the Sapphire Princess at 8 a.m. on Sept. 29.

Foundation adds directors

Mia Maki, a noted financial consultant and professor at the University of Victoria’s Gustavson School of Business, and Grace Wong Sneddon, director of academic leadership initiatives at UVic, have joined the board of directors at the Victoria Foundation. They replace Gloria Back and Heather Raven who completed terms on the board. Deirdre Roberts remains as chairwoman along with returning board members Steve McKerrell, Karen DeMeo, Sandra Harper, Andrew Jackson, Mark Litwin, Peter Malcolm, Judy Price, Rasool Rayani and Bob Worth. The Victoria Foundation also announced the appointment of Stephanie Chan as special funds administrator and Rob Janus as director of communications. Chan is a recent graduate from UVic and replaces Sara Lawson who is pursuing a Masters degree at Queens University. Janus was previously with Victoria Hospice. He replaces Stephanie Slater, now an independent communications consultant.

CMS Focus wins award

Victoria-based CMS Focus Management Services Ltd. took the top award for Excellence in Construction Management and Supervision at the ninth annual Deputy Minister’s Consulting Engineers Awards for its work on the 202nd Street Rapid Transit Project in Langley. CMS was awarded a $4.7-million contract to manage and provide supervision services for the construction of two new structures on Highway 1 eastbound and westbound lanes, a roundabout to allow express bus underpass access on and off of Highway 1, and a new Park and Ride facility for 669 vehicles. The new 202nd Street Park and Ride was built on time and on budget. It is the eastern transit hub for the new Highway 1 express bus service, connecting people to the Lougheed SkyTrain Station.

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