FAC Update & Notes

FAC Update and notes from a meeting with BC Ferries on June 3rd, 2016

Present for Route 20 FAC: Sharon Cross (Co-Chair), Sue French, Ken Hunter, Steve Frankel, Art Hunter, Mark Brown (Penelakut Councillor), Keith Rush (Co-Chair). Present for BC Ferries: Monique Turgeon, Superintendent, South Region Terminal Operations, Lewis MacKay, Marine Superintendent, Mark Collins, VP Strategic Planning and Community Engagement, Darin Guenette, Manager Public Affairs. 

1. Dangerous Goods (Cargo) (DG):

Penelakut will be requiring a DG run on occasion to service a new 5-plex that has just been built and will use propane for heating. Thursday May 26th was the first time that Penelakut has needed DG in a very long while, and it caused quite a disruption to the day’s schedule. Lewis MacKay and Monique Turgeon will explore different options, including: reviewing the day of the week and the time of day; the frequency to each Island; the summer versus the rest of the year schedule; the effectiveness of the 48 hour reservation notice, and whether that could be incorporated into an ESPOKES submission; along with developing specific guidelines for DG runs.

2. Route 20 Additional Savings:

On April 1st, 2016 Route 20 received a 5% reduction in ferry fares. This was recognition by BC Ferries for "our community developed" schedule that "provides savings" to the company in excess of the $80,000 per year mandated by the Provincial Government in 2013/2014. The FAC has asked for clarification from BC Ferries on how the 5% was calculated and how they addressed the saving achieved during their Fiscal Year 2015 (April 1st, 2014 to March 31st, 2015) and Fiscal Year 2016. Mark Collins has committed to providing the details on this issue.

3. Chemainus/Thetis Terminal Upgrades: Preliminary estimates from BC Ferries is that Life Extension work on the Chemainus terminal will start in the late summer or early fall of this year, 2016. It will include work on the trestle, replacing the ramp abutments, new asphalt for the trestle ramp and other work to provide another 12 years of service for the terminal. Once this work is complete a similar amount of life extension work will be carried out on the Thetis terminal with the addition of work on the wing walls. No berth closures are anticipated; however there may be some sailing cancellations. Sailing cancellations are likely to be late Saturday evening and early Sunday mornings. Preliminary dates for this work are February through May of 2017.

4. Road Safety/Congestion at the Thetis Terminal:

We discussed our communities concerns regarding pedestrian and vehicle safety issues at the Thetis Island terminal area. BC Ferries was quick to say that that they would be willing to participate. Since then they have attended a meeting with TIRRA’s road safety group led by Graeme Shelford and attended by MoTI’s Andy Newall. Please see the minutes of TIRRA’s General Meeting of June 23rd for more detail.

5. Large Group Travel/Under Age Travel: Lewis MacKay gave us a brief rundown on the procedures for large groups (camps) travelling on the ferry. Pre-arrangement with Long Harbour, and 2 weeks advance notice is preferred. BC Ferries will attempt them away from school runs and busy commuter runs. We had a wide ranging discussion on children under 12 travelling alone on the ferry. In particular how BC Ferries deals with children who attend extra-curricular activities and do not ride on the designated school runs. We discussed ways that young travellers could receive orientation and a tour of the ship so as to feel more comfortable in these situations.

6. Operations Report:

Lewis MacKay On time performance remains high on our route. We have two new to BC Ferries Masters on our route. Lewis asked that we have patience with them for the first while as they hone their docking skills.

Questions or comments please feel free to call or email any of your ferry advisory members.

Keith Rush Co-Chair, Route 20 FAC