Category: BC Ferries

Posted on

New proposed ferry schedules.

Service Proposal-final Saturna Short Link – Fina

l Mayne Queen

 

 

Below you will find the draft  proposed schedules that will be presented to the island on August 18, 7:00- 9 pm at the community centre. What is not shown are the inter island schedules, which are dramatically changed. Full schedules will be posted in the coming days on the BCFS website:

http://www.bcferries.com/about/publicconsultation2/sgi-consultation.html

It is recommended that you subscribe to the updates at the bottom of the BC Ferries webpage to insure you receive the most up to date and accurate information in advance of the meeting.

The fundamental change will be that the two ships that serve us from Swartz Bay will be paired with islands – one will serve Saturna and Galiano, one Pender and Mayne Islands. If you travel to and from Saturna, Galiano or Saltspring  from Mayne Island there will be severely restricted options (Mostly through Swartz Bay) compared to the present schedule.

It is worth noting that the Queen of Cumberland likely will be replaced by the Island Sky as part of the  deployment of the new vessels. What is not on the table is the Saturna Short link, a proposal that would see enhanced serve to all of our islands (Proposal PDF can be found on the links at the top of this page).

 

 

 

BC FERRIES PROPOSED SUMMER SCHEDULE

 

VILLAGE BAY TO SWARTZ BAY

 

LEAVE                                                           STOPS/TRANSFERS        ARRIVE

7:00 am Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs               1 stop OB                                 8:18 am

7:04 am Fri                                                  1 stop OB                                 8:12 am

7:45 am Sun                                                1 stop OB                                 9:00 am

8:50 am Sat                                                 non-stop                                   9:40 am

8:55 am Sun                                                1 stop OB                               10:20 am

10:30 am Sat                                                 non-stop                                 11:17 am

10:50 am Sun                                                non-stop                                 11:40 am

11:19 am Fri                                                  1 stop OB                               12:33 pm

11:32 am Mon, Tues, Wed                          1 stop OB                               12:46 pm

11:35 am Sat                                                 2 stops StB, LyH                     2:18 pm

11:42 am Thurs                                             1 stop OB                               12:58 pm

3:55 pm Sun                                                non-stop                                   4:42 pm

4:08 pm Sat                                                 non-stop                                   4:55 pm

5:39 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs               non-stop                                   6:26 pm

5:51 pm Fri                                                  1 stop OB                                 7:03 pm

6:12 pm Sat                                                 1 stop OB                                 7:24 pm

8:32 pm Sun                                                1 stop OB                                 9:44 pm

9:08 pm Fri                                                  1 stop OB                               10:20 pm

9:11 pm Sat                                                 non-stop                                   9:58 pm

9:36 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs               1 stop LyH                              11:25 pm

 

SWARTZ BAY TO VILLAGE BAY

 

LEAVE                                                           STOPS/TRANSFERS        ARRIVE

  5:37 am Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri        1 stop OB                                 6:49 am

6:45 am Sun                                                non-stop                                   7:35 am

6:50 am Sat                                                 1 stop LyH                                8:40 am

9:03 am Sat                                                 1 stop OB                               10:20 am

9:10 am Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri        non-stop                                 10:00 am

9:20 am Sun                                                1 stop OB                               10:35 am

10:15 am Sun                                                1 stop OB                               12:05 am

10:22 am Fri                                                  non-stop                                 11:09 am

10:32 am Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs               non-stop                                 11:19 am

10:30 am Sat                                                 non-stop                                 11:20 pm

2:30 pm Sun                                                1 stop OB                                 3:44 pm

2:40 pm Sat                                                 1 stop OB                                 3:58 pm

3:59 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs               1 stop OB                                 5:14 pm

4:47 pm Fri                                                  non-stop                                   5:34 pm

5:15 pm Sat                                                 non-stop                                   6:02 pm

7:05 pm Sun                                                1 stop OB                                 8:17 pm

7:26 pm Fri                                                  1 stop OB                                 8:38 pm

7:49 pm Sat                                                 1 stop OB                                 9:01 pm

8:09 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs               1 stop OB                                 9:21 pm

 

 

VILLAGE BAY TO TSAWWASSEN

 

LEAVE                                                           STOPS/TRANSFERS        ARRIVE

7:14 am Fri                                                  1 stop StB                                8:38 am

7:20 am Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs               1 stop StB                                8:44 am

8:21 am Fri                                                  1 stop LH                               10:28 am

9:05 am Sat                                                 non-stop                                 10:11 am

10:52 am Fri                                                  non-stop                                 11:58 am

11:03 am Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs               non-stop                                 12:09 pm

12:15 am Sun                                                1 stop StB                                1:45 pm

12:25 am Sat                                                 1 stop OB                                 2:20 pm

4:11 pm Sun                                                non-stop                                   5:17 pm

4:38 pm Sat                                                 1 stop StB                                6:02 pm

6:11 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs               non-stop                                   7:17 pm

6:27 pm Fri                                                  1 stop StB                                7:51 pm

8:37 pm Sun                                                non-stop                                   9:43 pm

8:50 pm Sat                                                 1 stop StB                              10:14 pm

9:13 pm Fri                                                  non-stop                                 10:19 pm

 

 

 

TSAWWASSEN TO VILLAGE BAY

 

LEAVE                                                           STOPS/TRANSFERS        ARRIVE

7:00 am Fri                                                  non-stop                                   8:06 am

7:00 am Sat                                                 1 stop OB                                 8:55 am

7:15 am Sun                                                1 stop StB                                8:45 am

9:18 am Fri                                                  1 stop StB                              10:42 am

9:24 am Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs               1 stop StB                              10:48 am

10:51 am Sat                                                 1 stop StB                              12:15 pm

2:55 pm Sun                                                non-stop                                   4:01 pm

3:40 pm Sat                                                 1 stop StB                                5:04 pm

4:48 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs   non-stop                                   5:54 pm

4:48 pm Fri                                                 1 stop StB                                6:12 pm

7:11 pm Sun                                                non-stop                                   8:17 pm

7:29 pm Fri                                                  1 stop StB                                8:53 pm

7:57 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs               1 stop StB                                9:21 pm

 

 

BC FERRIES PROPOSED SHOULDER SCHEDULE

 

VILLAGE BAY TO SWARTZ BAY

 

LEAVE                                                           STOPS/TRANSFERS        ARRIVE

6:52 am Fri                                                  1 stop OB                                 8:04 am

7:00 am Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs             1 stop OB                                 8:25 am

7:35 am Sat                                                 non-stop                                  8:25 am

7:55 am Sun                                               non-stop                                  8:35 am

7:59 am Fri                                                  non-stop                                  8:49 am

9:44 am Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs             1 stop OB                               11:00 am

10:55 am Sun                                               1 stop OB                               12:15 am

11:16 am Fri                                                  1 stop OB                               12:31 am

11:41 am Sat                                                 non-stop                                12:32 am

12:19 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs             1 stop OB                                 1:32 pm

4:05 pm Sat                                                 2 stops LyH, OB                     6:17 pm

5:00 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs             1 stop OB                                 6:15 pm

5:52 pm Fri                                                  non-stop                                  6:39 pm

6:00 pm Sun                                               non-stop                                  6:50 pm

6:15 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Sat     non-stop                                  7:05 pm

8:05 pm Sat                                                 1 stop StB                                9:50 pm

8:30 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs             1 stop LyH                             10:20 pm

8:30 pm Fri                                                  1 stop OB                                 9:42 pm

8:35 pm Sun                                               1 stop OB                                 9:47 pm

10:05 pm Sat                                                 1 stop OB                               11:20 pm

 

SWARTZ BAY TO VILLAGE BAY

 

LEAVE                                                           STOPS/TRANSFERS        ARRIVE

  5:29 am Sat                                                 1 stop LyH                               7:25 am

  5:30 am Fri                                                  1 stop OB                                 6:42 am

6:00 am Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs             non-stop                                  6:49 am

6:30 am Sun                                               1 stop OB                                 7:45 am

8:45 am Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs             non-stop                                  9:34 am

8:45 am Sat                                                 1 stop OB                               10:00 am

8:55 am Sun                                               1 stop StB                              10:40 am

9:09 am Fri                                                  non-stop                                  9:59 am

10:13 am Fri                                                  non-stop                                11:00 am

10:19 am Sat                                                 1 stop OB                               11:31 pm

11:20 am Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs             non-stop                                12:09 am

2:40 pm Sat                                                 1 stop OB                                 3:55 pm

3:10 pm Fri                                                  non-stop                                  4:00 pm

3:55 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs             non-stop                                  4:50 pm

4:20 pm Sat                                                 1 stop StB                                6:05 pm

4:30 pm Fri, Sun                                        1 stop OB                                 5:42 pm

6:40 pm Sat                                                 1 stop OB                                 7:55 pm

6:59 pm Fri                                                  1 stop OB                                 8:11 pm

7:10 pm Sun                                               1 stop OB                                 8:25 pm

7:25 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs,            non-stop                                  8:15 pm

7:40 pm Sat                                                 2 stops OB, LyH                     9:55 pm

 

 

VILLAGE BAY TO TSAWWASSEN

 

LEAVE                                                           STOPS/TRANSFERS        ARRIVE

7:09 am Fri                                                  1 stop StB                                8:37 am

7:50 am Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs             1 stop StB                                9:20 am

8:05 am Sun                                               1 stop StB                                9:45 am

9:49 am Sat                                                 1 stop OB                               11:46 pm

10:55 am Fri                                                  non-stop                                12:04 am

2:35 am Sat                                                 1 stop OB                                 4:31 pm

*3:58 pm Mon, Thurs                                  non-stop                                  5:07 pm

4:15 pm Sat                                                 1 stop StB                                5:45 pm

4:40 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs             non-stop                                  6:05 pm

6:05 pm Fri                                                  1 stop StB                                7:29 pm

6:10 pm Sun                                               1 stop StB                                7:40 pm

8:30 pm Fri                                                  nop-stop                                  9:36 pm

9:05 pm Sun                                               non-stop                                10:14 pm

 

 

TSAWWASSEN TO VILLAGE BAY

 

LEAVE                                                           STOPS/TRANSFERS        ARRIVE

8:33 am Sat                                                   non-stop                                  9:39 am

9:17 am Fri                                                    1 stop StB                              10:45 am

10:00 am Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs             1 stop StB                              11:30 am

10:35 am Sun                                                 1 stop StB                              12:10 am

1:19 pm Sat                                                    non-stop                                  2:25 pm

*2:20 pm Mon, Thurs                                  1 stop StB                                3:48 pm

4:23 pm Fri                                                   1 stop StB                                5:52 pm

4:30 pm Sun                                                 non-stop                                  6:00 pm

6:45 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs             1 stop StB                                8:15 pm

6:51 pm Fri                                                  1 stop StB                                8:15 pm

7:15 pm Sun                                                 1 stop StB                                8:45 pm

8:20 pm Sat                                                 1 stop StB                                9:50 pm

 

*Supplementary service option.

 

 

BC FERRIES PROPOSED WINTER SCHEDULE

 

VILLAGE BAY TO SWARTZ BAY

 

LEAVE                                                           STOPS/TRANSFERS        ARRIVE

7:00 am Mon to Fri                                     1 stop OB                                 8:25 am

7:55 am Sun                                               non-stop                                  8:35 am

9:34 am Sat                                                 non-stop                                10:24 am

9:44 am Mon to Fri                                     1 stop OB                               11:00 am

10:45 am Sat                                                 1 stop OB                               11:58 am

10:55 am Sun                                               1 stop OB                               12:15 am

12:19 pm Mon to Fri                                     1 stop OB                                 1:32 pm

1:21 am Sat                                                 non-stop                                  2:11 pm

4:05 pm Sat                                                 2 stops LyH, OB                     6:20 pm

4:25 pm Sun                                               non-stop                                  5:15 pm

5:00 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs             1 stop OB                                 6:15 pm

5:43 pm Fri                                                  1 stop OB                                 6:54 pm

6:15 pm Sat                                                 non-stop                                  7:09 pm

8:25 pm Sun                                               1 stop LyH                             10:14 pm

8:30 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs             1 stop LyH                             10:20 pm

9:03 pm Fri                                                  2 stops OB, LyH                   11:30 pm

10:05 pm Sat                                                 1 stop OB                               11:20 pm

 

 

SWARTZ BAY TO VILLAGE BAY

 

LEAVE                                                           STOPS/TRANSFERS        ARRIVE

  6:00 am Mon to Fri                                     non-stop                                  6:49 am

6:30 am Sun                                               1 stop OB                                 7:45 am

8:45 am Mon to Fri                                     non-stop                                  9:34 am

8:55 am Sun                                               1 stop StB                              10:40 am

9:14 am Sat                                                 1 stop OB                               10:30 am

10:54 am Sat                                                 non-stop                                11:44 pm

11:20 am Mon to Fri                                     non-stop                                12:09 am

2:40 pm Sat , Sun                                      1 stop OB                                 3:55 pm

3:55 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs             non-stop                                  4:50 pm

4:05 pm Fri                                                  1 stop OB                                 5:20 pm

4:20 pm Sat                                                 1 stop StB                                6:05 pm

6:31 pm Sun                                               1 stop OB                                 7:45 pm

6:40 pm Sat                                                 1 stop OB                                 7:55 pm

7:25 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Sun   non-stop                                  8:15 pm

7:40 pm Sat                                                 2 stops OB, LyH                     9:55 pm

8:00 pm Fri                                                  non-stop                                  8:50 pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

VILLAGE BAY TO TSAWWASSEN

 

LEAVE                                                           STOPS/TRANSFERS        ARRIVE

7:50 am Mon to Fri                                     1 stop StB                                9:20 am

8:05 am Sun                                               1 stop StB                                9:45 am

10:45 am Sat                                                 1 stop StB                              12:13 pm

4:15 pm Sat                                                 1 stop StB                                5:45 pm

4:30 pm Sun                                               1 stop StB                                5:57 pm

4:40 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs             non-stop                                  6:05 pm

5:38 pm Fri                                                  non-stop                                  6:44 pm

8:05 pm Sun                                               non-stop                                  9:11 pm

 

 

 

TSAWWASSEN TO VILLAGE BAY

 

LEAVE                                                           STOPS/TRANSFERS        ARRIVE

9:02 am Sat                                                 1 stop StB                              10:30 am

10:00 am Mon to Fri                                     1 stop StB                              11:30 am

10:35 am Sun                                               1 stop StB                              12:10 am

4:03 pm Fri                                                 1 stop StB                                5:28 pm

6:35 pm Sun                                               non-stop                                  7:45 pm

6:45 pm Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs             1 stop StB                                8:15 pm

7:23 pm Fri                                                  1 stop StB                                8:48 pm

8:20 pm Sat                                                 1 stop StB                                9:50 pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on

BC Ferries Southern Gulf Islands Service Proposal

On December 3, the Province of British Columbia will be at the Community Centre (5 – 8PM) as part of the consultation process reviewing BC ferries and it’s operations. Many fear that we are facing cuts to our basic ferry services in the face of the review which is focussed on finding savings within the BCFS budget.

There are some on the islands who feel that there are more effective ways of operating the routes that service our islands, these options offer significant economic benefits to the island economies, better service and reduced operating costs. All are worthy of consideration as part of the review process.

The PDF documents below are a proposal from the citizens of the islands which has been endorsed by MIRRA and several other organizations that offer positive alternatives that would benefit all of the southern Gulf Islands.

Service Proposal-final

Saturna Short Link – Final

The consultation process, dates, etc are in the links below:

 

Posted on

Route 7 Island Sky / Cumberland Route Comparison

Overview: Since being assigned to Route 5 (Southern Gulf Islands) in 1992, the Queen of Cumberland has struggled to effectively and efficiently serve the users. Issues with drives, elevated ramps, hull speed and conflicting berth schedules have clearly shown the Cumberland is unsuitable for the route and have earned the ship the nickname ‘Queen of Cumbersome’.

In summer months the Cumberland is switched with the Mayne Queen as it cannot keep the schedule due to high traffic – resulting in substantial overload situations as a smaller vessel is on the route.

Since being launched, the ‘Island Sky’ has repeatedly been identified as an ideal ship to replace the Cumberland. Currently deployed to Route 7, the Sky is one of the newest ships in the BCFS fleet. Having virtually identical vehicle capacity (125 vs. 127) and identical passenger capacity (462) the ships meet similar route requirements. The Sky has a higher hull speed, no elevated ramps and well suited to Route 5. BCFS have always maintained that the Sky is fully utilized on its present run and the Cumberland would be unsuitable as the ramps would seriously conflict with the scheduled sailings of Route 7.

Analysis: Recently released Route 7 figures (November 09 – September 2010) reveal that the Cumberland would be suitable for Route 7. The Cumberland has 85 vehicle spaces on the main deck, 127 total with the vehicle ramps deployed. For the purpose of this research, the sailings with 70+ vehicles were identified as a conservative assessment of the number of sailings on Route 7 that would require the deployment of the elevated vehicle ramps.

For the time period studied, there were approximately 5120 sailings on Route 7. The times the 70 vehicle threshold was exceeded was 378 sailings – or just over 7% of total sailings. At times there were weeks when the ramps would never have been deployed if the Cumberland was on Route 7.

It further is important to point out that over the time period studied the Island Sky never appeared to have an overload situation and only approximately 45 sailings carried more than 100 vehicles.When one considers that Route 7 is a point to point service, and potential delays due to ramp deployment would have minimal impact on the users or BCFS as a whole, it can be rationalized that the Cumberland would be well suited to this route.

It is important to highlight is the fact the Cumberland is unable to maintain its current Route 5 schedule with or without the deployment of the vehicle ramps. The Route 5 schedule is complex, involving 4 islands and interaction with two other vessels, delays tend to snowball over the day as the Cumberland falls further behind on each sailing. The situation is further exacerbated when the other ships that share schedules (Mayne Queen and Queen of Nanaimo) are delayed due to berth conflicts or waiting for traffic – resulting in excessive overtime charges to BCFS. At times the Cumberland is more than 60 minutes behind schedule on Route 5.

If needed the Route 7 schedule could be adjusted to accommodate the Cumberland with no impact on users or BCFS.

Conclusion: The Cumberland is well suited for Route 7. Ramp deployment on less than 10% of all sailings annually would not significantly impact schedules or users.

Assigning the Island Sky to Route 5 would result in vastly improved on time service, lessened overtime costs to BCFS and overall increases in customer satisfaction and utilization. Through the FAC, we are advised that over $750,000.00 in direct overtime costs are budgeted annually due to the Cumberland not being able to keep the schedule

Further consideration could be made to placing the Skeena Queen (100 vehicle capacity) on Route 7 instead of the Cumberland, and moving the Cumberland to Fulford Harbour (Route 4) to add capacity. Route 4 may be suitable for the Cumberland and the Skeena may match the actual loads seen on Route 7.

Posted on

BCFS Southern Gulf Islands Future Planning…on a budget

Overview

The southern Gulf Islands of Pender, Saturna, Mayne and Galiano continue to struggle with ferry transportation. Growing populations and commercial activity are pushing existing services to the limit on some sailings; static funding from the Provincial Government and increasing operating costs put BCFS in a difficult situation as losses mount.

Currently there is little or no justification for service upgrades or capital spending.

This paper is intended as a brief to inspire dialog and potentially open the door to new and innovative thinking with regard to planning with regard to sustaining a full service by BCFS to the Southern Gulf Islands (SGI).

Read the complete report (PDF):

BCFS Southern Gulf Islands final (434 kB)