FAC conducting survey on trial schedule

BC Ferries will be running a trial schedule from Aug 12 to Aug 16, with the second ship schedule starting and finishing one round trip later than usual.

Heather O’Sullivan

Co-Chair, Gabriola Ferry Advisory Committee

As you probably know, BC Ferries is running a trial summer schedule shift affecting Fridays from July 5 to August 30, as well as every weekday from Monday, August 12 through Friday, August 16 inclusive.

On each of these days, the Gwawis is being shifted one sailing later, eliminating the 705 am from Gabriola and adding a 540 pm from Nanaimo. The purpose of the trial is to try and relieve some of the heavy congestion which results in extremely lengthy vehicle waits in the late afternoon and early evening on the Nanaimo side.

The Gabriola Ferry Advisory Committee is seeking your feedback on whether this schedule shift improves the situation and how it has affected you. Filling it out will take less than 10 minutes.

Please note that while the survey is anonymous, only one response will be accepted per computer IP address. If filling out a physical copy, please return only one survey per person.

The direct link to the survey is https://gabriolafac.com/2024-trial-summer-schedule-survey/.

The link will also be available via the Gabriola FAC website, and physical copies can be picked up and dropped off at the Gabriola Library.

The survey will remain open for the remainder of the trial period – please submit your responses by August 30.

If you have taken advantage of the alternate sailings, this is the survey for you.

If you haven’t, this is also the survey for you.

If you want to wait until after the full week trial that starts August 12th, that’s also great.

Please share your thoughts and experiences with the FAC so we can accurately reflect the wishes of the community when we provide input to BC Ferries at the end of the trial about whether to repeat or expand it next summer.