For many coastal communities, B.C. Ferries is the only transportation link. This is markedly different from other areas in the province that have multiple links, such as roads, transit and inland ferry alternatives.
Yet coastal ferry users are treated differently from all other forms of transportation in B.C.
Coastal ferry users pay more than 70 per cent of all costs (more than 92 per cent of operating costs), far higher than for any other provincially subsidized alternatives.
For example, it costs nothing for a visitor to drive the billion-dollar-plus South Fraser Perimeter Highway or the $800-million Sea-to-Sky Highway.
A B.C. Transit rider pays 33 per cent of the cost of providing the service. A TransLink rider pays 40 per cent of the cost, unless you are a student attending a post-secondary school in the Lower Mainland; then you only pay 10 per cent of the cost, the differential subsidized by the province.
Inland ferry users pay nothing. And while inland ferries are an important transportation link, inland ferry users can always drive to their destination by road.
B.C. Ferries fares have risen at three to four times the rate of the B.C. consumer price index for a period of over 25 years, resulting in an increase in of close to 300 per cent since 1987.
During the same time, TransLink’s fares increased by less than 130 per cent, due in part to legislation enacted by the B.C. Liberals to limit TransLink fare increases to no more than inflation. Yet at the same time, the government passed the Coastal Ferry Act that had no such limit — just the opposite, as it included a formula designed to move toward 100 per cent user-pay.
Those of us on the coast were promised great things with the introduction of the Coastal Ferry Act. In December 2002, the province’s transportation minister said:
“The new structure will help ensure services are delivered on time and on budget. It will create a vibrant, properly managed ferry system that improves customer service, creates new jobs for coastal communities, ensures stable rates and is sustainable for the future.”
It clearly has not. B.C. Ferries fares are past the tipping point. B.C. Ferries ridership on all routes keeps declining, and so does its revenue, while demand for other modes of travel across the province is up.
To prove this point: Since 2007, ridership on B.C. Ferries has dropped seven per cent across the board due to fare increases of 66 per cent on minor routes (50 per cent on major routes). During the same period, TransLink’s revenue passengers were up 38 per cent and B.C. Transit carried 10 per cent more passengers. While gasoline sales were down 4.5 per cent, the corporate average fuel economy improved by more than 15 per cent, resulting in an increase in kilometres driven by five to 10 per cent. Airport volumes have risen — Victoria is up two per cent in the same period, Kelowna had the highest use on record, Vancouver airport is up, albeit only slightly.
By comparison, Kamloops, the constituency of the minister of transportation and infrastructure, has seen a huge growth in airport traffic. The years 2008 to 2012 showed a double-digit increase.
Road traffic to Kamloops showed increases as well. From 2007 to 2012, traffic over the Coquihalla increased by 44 per cent — after the $10 toll per passenger vehicle was removed. During that same period, B.C. Ferries’ fare for a car and driver from Saturna Island to Vancouver increased by almost $20.
It has been easy for B.C. Ferries and the province to blame the economy for faltering demand. But this is clearly wrong. There is only one reason — ferry fares are too high because of underfunding by the province. If the province properly funded the ferry system, the fares could fall. A well-publicized plan to reduce ferry fares and improve service would have a positive impact for many British Columbians.
Even the previous government acknowledged the benefit of lower fares. On Jan. 27, 2009, then-transportation minister Kevin Falcon wrote (copying the premier):
“As part of Premier [Gordon] Campbell’s 10-Point Economic Plan, the provincial government increased funding through our contract with B.C. Ferries to help stimulate British Columbia’s economy. The 33 per cent reduction in ferry fares during December and January combined with the restoration of full service on the Sunshine Coast and major routes has benefited many British Columbians.”
So why would the current government decide to cut service and increase fares, and do so without any assessment of the economic or social impact? And why does the province treat other modes differently, to the detriment of coastal communities?
Susie Washington Smyth is a board member of the Saturna Island Property Owners Association.
