> Everything you always wanted to know about B.C. Ferries,
• What are the new restrictions facing passengers regarding staying in their cars when sailing?
Late last year, we aligned our safety practices with other Canadian ferry operators relating to Transport Canada regulations that prohibit passengers from remaining in their vehicle on any closed deck on a vessel that is underway. • What is the difference between an open deck and a closed deck? Which ferries have those closed decks?
A closed vehicle deck is a space that is closed at both ends with limited side openings. On larger vessels that have both an upper and lower vehicle deck, customers are still able to remain in their vehicles on the upper vehicle deck. • The following vessels are equipped with closed decks: • Spirit of British Columbia • Spirit of Vancouver Island • Coastal Renaissance • Coastal Inspiration • Coastal Celebration • Queen of Alberni • Queen of Coquitlam • Queen of Cowichan • Queen of New Westminster • Queen of Oak Bay • Queen of Surrey • Salish Orca • Salish Eagle • Salish Raven • Northern Expedition • Northern Adventure • Northern Sea Wolf
These vessels generally operate on the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay, Tsawwassen-Duke Point, Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay, Horseshoe Bay-Langdale, Powell River-Comox, Tsawwassen-Southern Gulf Islands, Port Hardy-Prince Rupert and Prince Rupert-Haida Gwaii routes. The policy also applies to the vessel that will operate the Port Hardy-Bella Coola route. • What is the federal regulation requiring passengers to leave closed decks? What does that regulation say?
The regulation in question is Section 152 of the Cargo, Tackle and Fumigation Regulations under the Canada Shipping Act. Here is a link to the regulation: http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2007-128/page-9.html#h-65 Here is the section: 152 (1) Every passenger shall keep off a closed vehicle deck on a vessel that is under way unless the passenger
(a) has received the express consent of the vessel’s master to enter the deck, if there are no packaged goods on the deck; or
(b) is accompanied by a crew member, if there are packaged goods on the deck.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply when passengers are directed to return to their vehicles before the vessel docks. • How are people endangered if they stay in vehicles in an enclosed deck while a ferry is sailing?
Closed vehicle decks present a higher risk to passengers because of the proximity of flammable goods carried in large trucks. Also, for evacuation purposes, the lower enclosed car decks are farther away from passenger-assembly areas and evacuation equipment. • Are there examples of incidents that led to this regulation?
There was a fire on the Joseph and Clara Smallwood vessel in Newfoundland in 2003 that led to the Transport Canada regulation. • What percentage of people stay in their vehicles while the ferry is underway?
The majority of customers have always chosen to sit in the passenger area of the ship. Since the new regulation has been in place, the majority of customers follow the new regulation, as the safety benefits are self-evident. • What sorts of vehicles can only be loaded onto a closed deck? Can I ask at the ticket window to be loaded onto an open deck? Will I be able to reserve an open-deck space?
Any vehicle that is over seven feet in height must be loaded onto the lower enclosed car deck.
Customers can request the upper deck at the ticket booth and if space is available we try to accommodate the request. However, the final decision to put customers on the upper car deck rests with the loading officer, who is responsible for the safe stowage of all vehicles and cargo. • If I arrive early, can I guarantee myself a spot on an open deck? How is the closed-decks rule being enforced?
Arriving early is advisable for customers wishing to be loaded onto the upper car deck, as space is limited. For vehicles that arrive close to the time of boarding, or once boarding has commenced, it might not be possible to accommodate these requests. Customers who remain on the closed vehicle deck will be asked to leave by a vessel crew member. • What prompted the decision not to allow smoking at any B.C. Ferries facility, whether it’s a vessel or a terminal? How will you enforce this?
On Jan. 22, B.C. Ferries introduced a smoke-free environment for the health and wellness of our customers and employees, as it helps reduce exposure to second-hand smoke. We receive many requests from our customers to offer a smoke-free environment.
Announcements regarding the new policy will be made on board the vessels and at the terminals, and signs will be placed on board and on shore as a reminder. • How are you addressing the overloads that we saw in summer 2017?
We are constantly estimating and planning for the anticipated traffic demand. This past summer, we added 460 roundtrip extra sailings over and above the regular schedule. We also shifted traffic to off-peak sailings on the major routes with pricing promotions, which frees up space at the more popular sailing times. As we plan for new vessels, we take increased traffic into account to match size to demand. • Were people turned away from last sailings because no spaces were left? Are they given any guidance?
It’s extremely rare for us to leave traffic behind at the end of the day. But when it does happen, at some terminals we are able to re-direct customers to another route if there is a later sailing, for example at Tsawwassen we can offer them passage to Duke Point in Nanaimo if the sailings to Swartz Bay are sold out. We always encourage our customers to make a reservation to avoid the disappointment of not being able to get on a sailing on the day they wish to travel. • What’s the policy for adding sailings at the last minute if hundreds of passengers are still waiting for a ferry, and there are no more ferries scheduled? Did that happen this summer?
Yes, it did happen this summer and we did add sailings to accommodate the customers waiting at the terminal. • What made the summer so busy? Did you set any records? What were the passenger and car counts for June, July and August?
This summer was likely busier than usual due to the low Canadian dollar compared to the U.S. dollar, the reputation of coastal B.C. as a safe and “green” travel destination and the Interior wildfires driving tourism to the coast rather than inland.
June: Vehicles: 813,269, passengers: 2,058,579
July: Vehicles: 1,001,308, passengers: 2,814,516
August: Vehicles: 1,056,516, passengers: 2,972,514
Vehicle and passenger traffic for July through September was up 5.2 per cent compared to the same quarter in the previous year. • How well are the discounts working?
The discounts are working well. We are seeing traffic shift to early and late sailings, which reduces overloads and sailing waits at popular times. • What progress are you making with an enhanced reservation system that offers lower prices for less busy times, higher prices for busy times?
We are in the process of replacing our reservation systems and our website to improve our customers’ experience. These enhancements mean we can offer customers a more intuitive and user-friendly website to choose, book and change their travel arrangements. We will offer additional fare choices, including discounted fares for customers who book in advance on less busy sailings, with no separate reservation fee. We expect to roll out the new website and additional fare choices toward the end of 2018 and over the course of 2019. • What time of day tends to be the busiest? And the least busy?
While it varies by route, the busiest times of day tend to be the commuter times, with a slowdown midday. On the routes between Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver, the early morning and late evening sailings tend to be the least busy times, which is why we have been offering discount promotions to shift traffic to those sailings. • What’s happening with ferry fares in the next couple of years?
For the past two years, because traffic volume was up, B.C. Ferries was able to freeze the cost of travel.
The provincial government has made a commitment to freeze fares on the Vancouver Island-Metro Vancouver routes, reduce fares by 15 per cent on inter-island routes, and offer free fares Monday through Thursday (except on holidays) for people age 65 and older. We are working with the government to help them realize these commitments for an April 1 implementation.
B.C. Ferries has heard clearly that our customers would like to see lower fare options available. We are currently building a new website and revenue-management system to offer fare choices. • How heavily used is the wi-fi? • 2.4 million: Total number of monthly customer wi-fi sessions in peak summer • 392,118: Number of monthly unique users of the customer wi-fi service in peak summer • 7,100: Peak number of concurrent users on the service in peak summer • 5.94 terabytes: Average monthly data consumption used by wi-fi service in peak summer • Why can’t I use a debit card on ferries, but can use a credit card? Is debit-card use on the horizon?
Debit on board needs a consistent connection that is not always available when the vessels are moving. Debit would affect the speed of processing customers both at terminals and on board the vessels, so at this time it is not an efficient option. • What portion of people are using the machines to buy tickets versus in person?
Last year, about 35 per cent of foot passengers at terminals with kiosks (Swartz Bay, Tsawwassen, Duke Point, Departure Bay, Horseshoe Bay and Campbell River) used those kiosks rather than purchasing tickets from a ticket agent. • Why can’t I drink the water from washroom taps on some ferries? Is it OK to drink the tap water on certain ferries?
Depending on the vessel, there are typically two holding tanks for water on the ferry. One is for potable water, which is treated, monitored and tested according to Health Canada regulations. This potable water is used for the coffee machines, pop machines, drinking water sources, dishwashing and cooking. The non-potable water is used for other purposes, such as washrooms and some fire-suppression systems, and is not regularly treated or tested. We have a variety of water systems in our fleet due to vessels being of different design and age. Non-potable water sources are always clearly signed. • Where are B.C. Ferries’ biggest growth areas?
Across the system, there has been yearover-year growth of 4.9 per cent for vehicles and 4.7 per cent for passengers, April through November.
The inter-island routes are growing the fastest at 6.1 per cent and 5.3 per cent.
There has been especially strong growth on the Tsawwassen-Southern Gulf Islands route, where two new Salish Class vessels have been introduced, and on the Brentwood Bay-Mill Bay run, which have
seen more than 10 per cent year-over-year growth. Growth has also been strong on the Buckley Bay-Denman Island route, Tsawwassen-Duke Point route and ComoxPowell River route.
B.C. Ferries ancillary services are also growing. In fiscal 2017, B.C. Ferries Vacations generated $6.2 million in revenue, an increase of 8.8 per cent over the prior year. Our catering and on-board amenities are growing, with net sales increasing 5.7 per cent in fiscal 2017 compared to the prior year.
• Where are things dropping off?
Strong growth has been seen across the system, with no routes losing traffic relative to last year. The past decade was challenging, but we are on the other side of that and we’re now seeing passenger numbers and revenue higher than we’ve seen in a very long time.
On routes where we have seen less growth, it is usually due to shifting traffic patterns. For example, our route from Swartz Bay to the Southern Gulf Islands has seen slower than average growth, but this is most likely due to more customers using the additional sailings provided from Tsawwassen to the Southern Gulf Islands, rather than going through Victoria and then on to the Gulf Islands. Traffic to the Southern Gulf Islands is up almost seven per cent compared to last year.
• How much line-jumping happens in the car lanes? How do you deal with the cheaters?
Fairness for ferry users is important to us. The majority of our customers follow directions and take the lane assigned to them, so we don’t view this as excessive. Our tower operators and ticket agents monitor traffic to ensure our customers take the correct lane.
If a customer does take an incorrect lane, a member of our team will go and verify a customer’s ticket. Sometimes, the control tower will make an announcement to a particular vehicle to let them know they are in the wrong lane.
• What are the upcoming major projects for B.C. Ferries?
Over the coming decade, we will independently raise and invest $3.2 billion in British Columbia’s coastal ferry service. The major projects will be new vessels, terminal improvements and technology enhancements.
Public input is important to us. Shortly, B.C. Ferries will start a public-engagement process to obtain input on a future vision for Horseshoe Bay terminal and the services we provide and support. We are just in the early stages of this planning and will be looking for public participation in 2018. A very high-level budget estimate is approximately $250 million and that will be refined once a plan has been developed.
Other projects include a terminal development plan for Swartz Bay and upgrades at Langdale terminal. We are also conducting public outreach for terminal development planning at Skidegate on Haida Gwaii, as well as Denman and Hornby Islands.
We’ll be adding new vessels to the fleet and modernizing the customer experience through technology upgrades.
• The Salish vessels are being deployed now. What are the next new vessels? Upgraded vessels?
We are building two new ferries to serve the Northern Gulf Islands, known as the M47 Class. The first will be deployed on the Powell River-Texada Island route, replacing the 59-year-old North Island Princess. The second will replace the Quadra Queen II on the Port McNeill-Alert Bay-Sointula route. The Quadra Queen II will become a relief vessel, allowing for fleet redeployments and the retirement of the 53-year-old Howe Sound Queen. These two new vessels are planned to enter the fleet by 2020.
The M47 vessels will have the capacity to carry at least 47 vehicles and at least 300 passengers and crew. They will have a number of key features that support B.C. Ferries’ goal to be efficient and environmentally responsible throughout our system, including a hybrid diesel electric-battery power generation and propulsion system.
• What are the next steps in vessel technology? There’s the switch to diesel and natural gas power that’s happening now — will there be ferries propelled by electricity?
The newest vessels entering the fleet in 2020 will have a hybrid diesel electric- battery power generation and propulsion system that uses onboard electric battery power. Electric propulsion is quiet, smooth and efficient compared to traditional diesel propulsion. We expect more electrification of ferries in the future.
Our largest vessels in the fleet, the Spirit Class vessels, are being converted to run on natural gas to reduce their environmental footprint. • The numbers • Number of staff: 4,500 • Number of vessels: 36 • Number of sailings per day: about 500 • Number of routes: 24 • Longest route, shortest route: The longest route is between Port Hardy and Prince Rupert — 274 nautical miles.
The shortest routes are Buckley Bay to Denman Island and Denman Island to Hornby Island; both are 1.2 nautical miles. • Money-making routes: In fiscal 2017, the greatest portion of revenue, 65 per cent, was earned on the three routes between Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver. Revenue earned on these routes is spread across the system. • Annual spending: Total operating expenses in fiscal 2017: $726.2 million. • Annual revenue: Total revenue in fiscal 2017: $859.3 million. • Number of passengers carried: In fiscal 2017, 21 million passengers. • Number of cars carried: In fiscal 2017, 8.3 million vehicles. • Distance travelled per year: The combined nautical miles travelled annually for B.C. Ferries is approximately 1.2 million Nm, converted to kilometres it would be approximately 2.2 million kilometres. • Babies born on board since company started (June 15, 1960): 24 • Number of captains: approximately 175 (125 active captains, 50 with certificates but not active captain positions)
• Milk jugs
At Duke Point and Swartz Bay terminals, more than 50,000 plastic milk jugs were used to create two new kids’ play areas. In addition, more than 1,800 kilograms of recycled rubber, and — in partnership with Tire Stewardship B.C. — 13,600 kg of recycled tires from B.C., contributed to slides, climbing structures and playing surfaces.
• Purple martin
Under the B.C. Purple Martin Stewardship and Recovery Program, B.C. Ferries employees are helping to ensure this species of special concern is here to stay with 19 nest boxes and counting across Little River, Buckley Bay and Denman West terminals
• Longest vessel: Spirit Class
Spirit of British Columbia and the Spirit of Vancouver Island make up B.C. Ferries Spirit Class, the longest vessel class in our fleet. At 167 metres, each vessel is longer than three Olympic swimming pools back to back. With a capacity for approximately 358 vehicles and 2,100 passengers and crew, you’re most likely to spot these sister ships sailing between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen.