In pondering ways to cut costs, sa国际传媒 Ferries floated some suggestions, including closing the Departure Bay terminal in Nanaimo and routing all traffic from Nanaimo through the Duke Point terminal to Tsawwassen, cutting the link to Horseshoe Bay.
鈥淚t鈥檚 plausible to consider a scenario in the not-too-distant future whereby the vast majority of traffic from Nanaimo could potentially go through Tsawwassen,鈥� Transportation Minister Todd Stone said Tuesday.
A day later, Stone shot down the idea of eliminating the route between the mid-Island and Horseshoe Bay, and said the government does not want to pursue closing the Departure Bay terminal.
Good move on his part, but it exposes, yet again, the fiction that the ferry system is run by a private, independent corporation. End the charade, and bring the ferry system back as part of the provincial highway system.
The corporation said it was considering major changes to the services between Vancouver Island and the mainland, including consolidating the two Nanaimo terminals into one and using the Tsawwassen terminal for all ferry traffic to and from the Island.
Operating two ferry terminals in Nanaimo 鈥� Departure Bay and Duke Point 鈥� has always seemed wasteful. After all, the capital region gets along well with one terminal for the mainland and the Gulf Islands.
Duke Point was established to handle the bulk of freight traffic, keeping big trucks out of Nanaimo鈥檚 downtown. Funnelling all ferry traffic through Duke Point, as the corporation envisions, would further ease downtown congestion and would free up valuable waterfront property.
Closing the Departure Bay terminal might result in some inconveniences, but they would likely be outweighed by the savings to be gleaned from operating only one terminal. No one would suffer unduly.
However, dropping the link between Nanaimo and Horseshoe Bay and routing all traffic from the Island through the Tsawwassen terminal is a poor idea for a variety of reasons.
It鈥檚 to Stone鈥檚 credit that he has responded quickly to backlash from these proposals. But the fact that announcements and explanations come from the transportation minister illustrates that sa国际传媒 Ferries is not an independent entity. sa国际传媒 Ferries has a contract with the government to provide ferry service, but since the government is the corporation鈥檚 sole shareholder, it is doing business with itself, not a private entity.
If sa国际传媒 Ferries operated strictly on business principles, it would eliminate unprofitable routes or raise fares. Of course, that can鈥檛 happen 鈥� the impact on ferry-dependent coastal and island communities would be fatal if fares became unaffordable or all money-losing routes were eliminated.
The reality is that a third of the province鈥檚 population depends on the ferries as part of the highway system. The reality is that while the major routes between the Island and the mainland are profitable, subsidizing smaller routes will always cost more than they bring in.
The province has no problem offering free inland ferry service. Granted, that system costs a fraction of what it costs to operate coastal ferries, but is the principle any different? The new vessel serving the Arrow Lake ferry route is bigger than many of the vessels that ply Gulf Island routes, yet one service is free to travellers while the other is not.
So it looks as if sa国际传媒 Ferries is not going to seek public input on these proposals after all.
The better question would be to ask British Columbians if it鈥檚 time to face facts, bring the ferry service back into the provincial government and recognize that it is an integral part of the highway system.
