Ferries cuts no longer happening on major routes

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Cuts to sailings on some major BC Ferries routes are no longer happening as the two-year-old plan has now been dropped.

The corporation announced the plan two years ago as a way to find nearly $5 million in cost savings.

BC Ferries says it doesn’t make economic sense to make cuts on the most popular routes because they are quite profitable and have already been reduced by eight per cent.

“It was very hard to try to find opportunities to further reduce service that were not outweighed by revenue loss. I think it’s very important to remember that 80 per cent of our revenue is made on our major routes and the major routes cross-subsidize the minor routes,” says Deborah Marshall with BC Ferries.

Savings will have to come from somewhere else, possibly a hiring or wage freeze according to the corporation.

The major routes that were supposed to be hit were Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay and Duke Point routes, as well as Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay.

Ferries critic wonders where cuts will occur

NDP Ferries critic Claire Trevena says she’ll be very interested to see where the corporation does make those cost savings.

She says passengers still adjusting to cutbacks on minor routes may feel slighted that the major routes will now remain intact.

“We’ve seen cuts right across the board. Passengers who use the minor routes are going to wonder why they were attacked and the major ones weren’t. What will be the plan for the minor routes in the future?”

She says the fear is fares could go up, or staff could be laid off, which she says might compromise safety.

Then there is the option a lot of unhappy passengers have been calling for.

“The one we always hear is the management pay. A number of them get large levels of compensation. I know that is an automatic, knee jerk reaction but maybe we need to be looking at management.”

What BC Ferries decides to do will be spelled out in its next four-year plan, to be released this summer.

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