An upcoming ferry schedule for the island has raised questions both about sailing timings and how it was implemented.
Coun. Judith Gedye spoke to a letter from the public during the March 24 meeting which raised concerns about the new BC Ferries schedule beginning on May 15. The most notable attention was drawn to the altering of sailings during the busy afternoon stretch. Current mid afternoon to early evening runs from Horseshoe Bay include the 2:20, 3:30, 4:35 and 5:45 pm. Starting next month, sailings leaving the mainland will be at 2:35, 3:55, 5:20 and 6:35 pm.
“I take it from this letter and from other comments made to me that there are considerable gaps,” said Gedye, referencing concerns from both the letter writer and the community about the longer wait times between sailings at a time when commuters are coming home from work and students are returning from school.
“While there’s obvious effort to expand the amount of time for each run so that there’s adequate amount of time for loading and unloading, there hasn’t been any conversation with respect to understanding the traffic patterns that are important for locals,” says Gedye, who along with Coun. Sue Ellen Fast mentioned they’ve noticed reduced public consultation on ferry issues since BC Ferries dismantled the Ferry Advisory Committees late last year.
A prevailing sense around the table was that the schedule changes on their own may be good, but the way they were announced showed a lack of communication from BC Ferries. “Notwithstanding the lack of notice… . What we have to trade off here is the inconvenience on a whole bunch of runs where they’re 10, 20, 30, 40 minutes late and the disruption that causes, versus not being able to accommodate as many people in a three hour window,” said Coun. Tim Wake.
His opinion was shared by Mayor Andrew Leonard. “I was surprised that it was released all of a sudden… That said I do agree… Particularly in the summer months my read is that BC Ferries has acknowledged there’s operational challenges and that the summer schedule during the day is a bit of an aspirational timetable from time to time. So I’m curious to see if this additional time between sailings results in anything.”
Regardless of whether the schedule proves beneficial, council decided BC Ferries needed to hear their consultation concerns. Leonard said it was especially strange to be kept out of the loop despite several recent meetings between the municipality and BC Ferries including one here on Bowen Island. “It just feels odd that there was all of this engagement happening, but something operational that impacts the day-to-day schedule of Islanders’ lives was not previewed to the island,” he said.
The seven members unanimously voted to pen a letter to the transportation company “advising council’s disappointment that the May 15, 2025 to March 31, 2026 schedule was significantly changed without any community consultation.”
