FAC Update

Good afternoon folks,

  

It's a rainy Sunday afternoon...sounds like a good time for some ferry information...

  

Click here to view updated graphs for Route 20 (Chemainus-Thetis-Penelakut). 

You will find traffic changes from FY 2004 to October of this year.  On one of the graphs we have charted what a 1% increase in traffic might look like to BC Ferries over that period of time.  This, we think is a reasonable assumption of traffic growth given the population in BC has grown by 1.4% since 2007 and population in the GVRD has increased by 1.8% during that time.  Additionally, BC's real GDP has increased by 1.1% during that period, which includes the 2008, 09 meltdown.  Unfortunately, not the case, BC Ferries vehicle traffic has decreased at an annualized rate of 2.0% and passenger traffic has decreased at an annualized rate of 1.8%.  Our premise is that traffic started its significant decline when fares took off (2008-09), and that if BCF and the Province want to see increased ridership, fares have got to decline or at worse stop rising.  The next chart, which I find shocking, compares prepaid car and driver fares to BC's Consumer Price Index over the same period...CPI at 18.4% since 2004 compared to our ferry fares at 114.4%! 

 

We (Brian Hollingshead and I) had the opportunity on Friday to provide this information plus Route 6 (Crofton-Vesuvius) to Rob Hutchins who is the Mayor of Ladysmith and Chair of the CVRD Board of Directors.  Rob was meeting with Jordon Sturdy, Parliamentary Secretary, who along with Kevin Richter of MoTI have been instructed by the Premier and MoTI Minster Todd Stone to meet face to face with all the chairs of the Regional Districts, to get their take on the BC Ferry situation.

 

If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to give me a call...

 

Best Regards

 

Keith