Community Prioritization: What we heard

Over the past several months communities and interested and impacted groups, including Community Prioritization Panel (CPP) members and Ferry Advisory Committees (FACs), took part in both in-person and virtual engagements that focused on their top priorities.

“As an essential public service, hearing directly from passengers, local businesses and municipal governments better enables us in providing reliable, efficient connections across the coast. This feedback will help us address system-wide, near-term priorities while taking the necessary time to consider longer-term work and sustainability, so we can continue supporting all coastal communities effectively,” said Morningstar Pinto, Executive Director of External Relations at BC Ferries.

The CPP was made up of FAC chairs, specially appointed to review and rank shared, coastal-wide priorities to help BC Ferries consider where to best focus efforts to be impactful to the customers and communities it serves. Based on this process, five key areas were identified as priorities:

• service reliability
• scheduling
• medical travel
• cycling and traffic management
• vehicle staging and loading

As the first action we are taking in response to what we have heard, starting November 12, 2024, customers on our busiest routes can now get more specific details about the status of sailings and terminal traffic, with the launch of a new beta Current Conditions site.

Other actions underway include the establishment of a task force to identify options for minimizing delays out of Horseshoe Bay terminal, expanding how we will work with local communities and transportation partners to address congestion and improve safety at terminals, and reviewing staging and loading/unloading processes to enhance traffic flow.

To read the full report from the Community Prioritization Panel, visit the Reports and Information section on this page, or click here: BCF -CPP Final Report or to read the full news release visit bcferries.com/contact-us/media-room/news-release, or by clicking here: Media Room | BC Ferries

We would like to thank all those community members, interested and impacted groups, the FAC and the CPP for their input throughout the engagements.

We will continue using these insights, including the success of the digital engagements, to evolve how we engage with the communities we serve and to incorporate into decisions across routes, creating balanced, community-centred outcomes that benefit all passengers.