Project Update - November 18, 2022

BC Ferries has concluded its review of the proposed schedule for a Texada Island – Comox pilot. While we understand the strong desire of the Texada Island community to have service directly to Vancouver Island, the solution desired by the community is not affordable at this time given all the other pressures across BC Ferries’ system.

We would like to thank the Ferry Advisory Committee members who worked closely with the community to bring forward a proposal. We worked with our fleet deployment, financial, and operational teams to carefully analyze the proposal including costs and potential revenue gains. The estimated annual cost of the proposed service is approximately $250,000. This costing includes consideration for:

• Increased labour costs and crewing implications of providing the service (ticket, terminal, deck crew etc.)
• Increased fuel costs associated with longer travel times for the vessel
• Minimal revenue increase as we are shifting travel from one route to another, i.e. minimal traffic increase overall

We recognize the strong desire of the community for easy travel between Texada Island and Vancouver Island. Although we are unable to provide direct service at this time, we are actively exploring the potential to offer a thru-fare for those travelling on to Comox. This will take our teams some time and we will provide an update to the community in the spring.

Consistent with the company’s strategic direction for the coming year, we are focused on addressing our most pressing priorities including investing in our people to support reliable service, building capacity to support traffic growth across our system, and replacing our aging fleet of vessels. This overarching direction, identified through the organization's Performance Term Six submission to the BC Ferry Commissioner is supported by both Boards of BC Ferries and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. With one of our most challenging summer seasons behind us, it is imperative that we focus our efforts and resources on addressing these priorities before we consider adding or modifying routes. Our decision regarding the Texada pilot has also been shared with the BC Ferry Commissioner who understands the difficult choice we made.

BC Ferries’ proposed plans for the future (2024-2028), are detailed in our Performance Term Six Submission to the Commissioner, which outlines plans for all routes, including traffic forecasts and projected expenditures. Communities are encouraged to read and provide feedback on the Submission which can be found on the Commissioner’s website at:

https://www.bcferrycommission.ca/commissioner-begins-price-cap-setting-process-upon-receipt-of-bc-ferries-submission-for-performance-term-6-april-1-2024-to-march-31-2028/.

We would like to recognize the significant work of the Ferry Advisory Committee members on Texada Island who have been instrumental in assisting BC Ferries in engaging with the community, and representing community interests in relation to the direct service pilot. Their time and commitment are greatly appreciated.