Derek Kilbourn
Sounder News
Last week, on Wednesday, August 7, BC Ferries added one extra round trip to the end of the schedule.
This came at the end of an evening which saw vehicles lined up far down Port Drive towards the Helijet terminal, and travellers reporting a wait from 3 to 4 hours.
At 9:55pm, BCF issued a service notice advising that they would be adding an additional round trip for August 7:
• 11:30 pm departing Descanso Bay (Gabriola Island)
• 12:00 am departing Nanaimo Harbour (Vancouver Island)
Liza Yuzda, Senior Communications Advisor with BC Ferries confirmed the extra sailing was made to accommodate the remaining traffic on both sides at the end of the day.
“Captains have the discretion to make this call on particularly busy days, provided it works operationally and the required staff are available in accordance with Transport Canada requirements.”
Yuzda added, “this is peak summer season and traffic has been heavy with people wanting to travel on BC Ferries on a number of routes.
“It’s been a busy summer, and we understand how important this service is for Gabriola Island residents and everyone traveling to and from the island.”
Yuzda said there were 16 sailings on the Nanaimo – Descanso Bay route Wednesday where the vessels were at capacity and vehicles had to wait until the next sailing.
Of those 16 overloads, nine sailed from Nanaimo Harbour (all in the afternoon) and seven sailed from Descano Bay (all in the morning). There are 14 scheduled sailings in the afternoon from Nanaimo, and 11 from Gabriola in the morning.
Yuzda said, “at the end of the day all vehicles had been carried on a sailing to their destination.
“The traffic Wednesday night was primarily due to a combination of heavy traffic throughout the day and our scheduled dangerous goods sailings, which reduce the number of passenger sailings on Wednesdays. The 5:40 p.m. sailing from Gabriola Island to Nanaimo Harbour was dedicated to transporting dangerous goods, which may have given the impression of empty deck space on that crossing, but this space was required to ensure safety.
““We continue to look at ways to ease traffic congestion on the route, including trialing a new schedule this summer to provide more capacity in the evening.
“We sincerely appreciate the patience and understanding of all our passengers as we worked to manage these challenges. Our commitment remains to ensure safe, reliable, and timely service for everyone traveling with us.”
Heather O’Sullivan is co-Chair of the Gabriola Ferry Advisor Committee.
She confirmed that anyone who arrived at the terminal hoping to get home on Aug 7 after the second ship stopped service was looking at a minimum 3.5 to 4 hour wait to get on a ferry.
“Fortunately the Kwigwis crew agreed to do another round trip at midnight, otherwise many people would have found themselves stranded in Nanaimo.”
She said it is becoming clear that current capacity is not equal to the task.
“If yesterday’s Service Notices were anything to go by, both vessels were overloaded and running behind all day, making last night’s debacle entirely predictable.”
O’Sullivan added, “at the moment BCF seems to have no way of tracking the scale of an overload.
“Once the lineup extends around the corner onto Port Drive, staff have no way of telling whether they are dealing with a one, two, or three sailing wait.
“Somehow that information needs to be captured to help management make better decisions about appropriate service levels. The impact of these massive evening lineups needs to be properly understood -they are far different and more serious from a one sailing wait during the day. All overloads are not created equal.”
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