On May 20, a post on the Bowen Islanders for Ferry Fairness Facebook page described an incident where three foot passengers attempting to walk onto the Queen of Capilano got into an argument with a BC Ferries worker because they were not allowed to load. According to Councillor Melanie Mason, scenarios such as this may become more common as BC Ferries works to keep loading times down and the ferry running on time.
“BC Ferries is quite concerned about the time it’s taking for pedestrians,” Mason told council on Monday evening. “They know they’ve got a timing issue, that it’s taking time to load and it’s down to minutes. I haven’t checked this week, but last week I checked and the afternoon runs are starting to slow down, and they’re slowing down by 8, 10 minutes. And it’s a close enough gap now that BC Ferries is saying they’re running on time but… they’re going now for quality over quantity. So they’re not going to be hanging around for stragglers or trying to squeeze on as many cars as possible.”
Mason added that BC Ferries is going to start implementing the existing 5-minute cut-off rule for pedestrians boarding from Snug Cove. She added that in the most recent meeting with BC Ferries, the municipal transportation committee (BIMTAC) said they would take on some of the responsibility for educating the community about this rule.
“The problem is,” said Mason. “When we as a municipality post things about BC Ferries, we tend to get a lot of the flack.”
Councillor Sue Ellen Fast says that the experience of being turned away will be the most effective way for Bowen Islanders to learn about the new rule.
“It happened to me,” says Fast. “I was being dropped off by a vehicle and there were several other foot passengers trying to load. I had assumed there was a 3-minute cut-off, but I was wrong. I was turned away, but it was my fault. Everybody’s got to get used to this new arrangement: with more cars to fit on, they need more time to load. If you’re a walk-on, you just need to arrive a few minutes earlier.”
