Please see below an update on ferries activities from Darin Guenette, Manager, Strategy & Community Affairs.
Material bits of info that you may wish to have related to our COVID-19 responses/communications, etc.
1. At this time, we don’t have any plans to reduce service on FAC (minor) Routes. However, we are looking at contingency options if/when it is determined to reduce service (Commissioner, Ministry, etc) and/or we get to a point where we are unable to crew our vessels to the minimum crewing levels due to illness.
2. We are posting a travel advisory with new/stronger messaging around: encouraging essential traffic only, follow social/physical distancing recommendations, please only e-payments (credit/debit) only…unless cash is your only option. This advisory will be accessible on a yellow tab found at the top of our homepage: bcferries.com…likely within a day or so.
3. We are also working at posting links to the various community postings, calling on non-resident/non-essential customers not to come to their community, in the “Information and Resources” section of our COVID-19 page (see: https://www.bcferries.com/about/projects/covid-19.html?utm_campaign=COVID-19&utm_medium=web&utm_source=bcfhome ). I suspect this will be live in the next day or so…and I’ll try and let you know.
On the ferries/at terminals.
- We are working at getting new signage up (bright colours to stand out from our regular ‘BCF blue-and-white’ standard) in applicable places; they will be focused on reminders around: social/physical distancing, staying in vehicles, no cash payments, etc. This should also take a couple of days or so.
- We have now completely stopped food/beverage and baggage services on all routes except the Northern routes (due to time of sailings), including pre-packaged foods that we were still offering. There is a para on this in the current Travel Advisory tab.
- Some lounge areas are being closed on ships, with a focus on keeping enough space open to allow distancing, while allowing us to not contaminate other lounges. Employees on board have top level cleaning supplies to fight viruses, etc.
- Traffic yesterday was down approximately 65+% (passengers)/55+% (vehicles) down across all inter-island routes in our network. It was down on the Major routes (between V.Island/Sunshine Coast and Metro VCR) closer to 80% (pass) and 65% (veh). These are all compared to the same time in 2019.
Keith Rush
Route 20 FAC
Cell: 250-732-2766
