Project Update - February 1, 2021

Phase II Engagement Complete!

We recently completed the second phase of engagement for the Moving Ahead Together on the Sunshine Coast project. In this phase we proposed 11 ideas that were collaboratively developed by the Moving Ahead Together Project Working Group and BC Ferries. We asked the community to tell us which ideas they would like us to develop further. The ideas were broken into four topic areas:

1. Travel Certainty - Ways to reduce stress and anxiety for those who depend on ferry service
2. Medical Travel - Ways to reduce stress and anxiety for those travelling with medical needs
3. Communications - Ways to enhance information that can make planning and travelling easier
4. Demand Management - Ways to enhance the use of available capacity through the day

Learn more about the ideas proposed and the results of engagement in the engagement results infographic and the full engagement summary report.

What We Heard

Community feedback indicated that all 11 ideas proposed were worth moving forward for further development. The community also noted several key considerations to keep in mind while moving forward with idea development, including:

• Ensuring fairness and equity – ensuring that changes, especially changes to booking processes, carefully consider impacts on all travellers, e.g. commuters, medical travellers, Upper and Lower Sunshine Coast residents, those for whom the additional cost of making a booking is a barrier to travel etc.
• Easing travel for those taking more than one ferry – taking an end-to-end view of the travel experience for those who must take more than one ferry, e.g. Upper Sunshine Coast to Lower Mainland travel
• Prioritizing and supporting medical travel – ensuring ease and comfort throughout the travel experience from booking through to arrival for those with medical needs
• Enhancing access to information – making key information easy to find, and coordinating with community organizations to enhance distribution and understanding of information

Our Next Steps

Using the feedback we received, we now begin the work of turning the ideas proposed in Phase II into tangible solutions. This process will require engagement from internal BC Ferries teams and the community. These efforts will follow a three-step process:

1. Internal workshops with BC Ferries staff (January – February) – BC Ferries staff from a variety of departments will come together to brainstorm tangible solutions for each of the ideas proposed, using the feedback received through engagement as the starting point for their discussions.
2. Workshops with key stakeholders (February – March) – We will bring the solutions developed through internal workshops to key stakeholders including members of the Project Working Group who wish to remain involved, Ferry Advisory Committee members, and other stakeholders as appropriate.
3. Community feedback (March – April) – Where appropriate, we’ll bring suggested solutions to the community for feedback prior to implementation.

We will continue to keep the community updated as we undertake our next steps. We will be coming back with additional communications and engagement over the coming months as we move from proposed ideas through to the development and implementation of tangible solutions.

Learn more about our next steps in the engagement next steps report.