When you get on the ferry, where are you going and why are you going there?
Do you wish there was a quiet place on the ferry where you could read your book or would your kids like a play zone?
These are some of the questions that the Bowen Island Ferry Advisory Committee is asking on a new online survey.
This first survey will be rather general in nature, with more questions being asked in subsequent versions.
Bill Van Luven, a committee member who's helping to implement the survey, says it's important to get as many people as possible to take part. "It really helps the community's bargaining position and gives us a single voice, and puts strength behind it.
"Then there is this tyrannosaurus rex looming on the horizon," he adds. "With BC Ferries poised to raise fares more than 50 per cent over the next few years, we need numbers from the community to demonstrate how these increases will affect ridership."
The advisory committee enjoys good communications with BC Ferries, which does its own surveys of riders. But those surveys are internal, for BC Ferries' purposes. "Their priorities are a bit different than ours," Van Luven says. "Some of our questions are about perception and vision; we're asking for new ideas so the ferry works better for all of us."
The ferry advisory committee wants to go beyond anecdotal evidence of any problems or concerns - "this is what happened to me on the ferry today". Not only will this survey gather useful information that will bolster the committee's dealings with BC Ferries, but it was also provide a baseline of information that can be used to gauge trends or changes in usage.
"It lets us understand where the public is on the barometre, or blood pressure monitor," Van Luven says.
People are being asked to fill in the survey within the next two weeks. It can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YXBRMDJ. If you click on "done" you won't be able to re-visit the survey. Only click "done" when you've completed the survey.
