June 5, 2009
BC Ferries’ Reports Quarterly Fare and Service Performance

Published today are charts showing BC Ferries’ actual fare levels versus Commission-set fare caps through March 31 2009, for each of four groups of routes. Actual fare levels are below fare caps at March 31 2009 for all except the group of three major routes.  Under the Commission’s rules, BC Ferries must bring the actual fares below caps so that the over-cap condition does not occur for three consecutive quarters, as explained in Memorandum 31.  Also reported are the latest service quality data, covering both on-time performance and fully-loaded sailings (i.e. those which departed full leaving some customers waiting for the followng sailing).

March 31, 2009
Decline in BC Ferries’ Traffic Volumes

BC Ferries reports a sharp year-on-year drop in its traffic volumes over the past year. The Commission tracks an index of annual traffic quantity, with a value of 100.0 for calendar 2003.  At the end of March 2009 it stood at 98.8, which was 5.5% down from 104.6 a year earlier. Here is a graph of the index since 2003.

Within a performance term, BC Ferries shoulders the financial risk due to fluctuations in traffic. We are currently in the second term (PT2), i.e. the four years ending March 31 2012. This means that BC Ferries will not be compensated through higher fares for lower-than-expected traffic, unless the company can satisfy the Commission that the circumstances are extraordinary under section 42 of the Coastal Ferry Act.

Fare caps will be re-set in 2012.  The PT3 caps will reflect the then-forecast traffic through 2016.  Also, the Coastal Ferry Act will require the Commission to reflect any higher crewing costs in higher-than-otherwise fares at that time (see next item below). There will be no retroactive compensation for PT2 built into PT3 fares.

March 7, 2009
Effect of Higher Crewing Requirements

Transport Canada, BC Ferries’ safety regulator, has issued new safe-crewing requirements, effective January 1, 2009. These mean that, on certain vessels serving the group of 18 minor routes, in order to carry the same maximum passenger loads as last year, BC Ferries will have to increase the number of crew, which will raise operating costs. BC Ferries has stated that as an interim measure, it has elected to reduce the maximum number of passengers it carries on some vessels, to keep prior crewing levels. This raises the possibility that “overloads” - i.e. sailings departing full and leaving waiting customers behind - may become more frequent on minor routes, especially in the summer (July-September) which is its busiest quarter.

For example, on the 18 minor routes in the last summer quarter, BC Ferries’ vessels completed 18,172 round trips and 9.5% of the sailings were “overloads”. That percentage varies widely, however, depending on the route: the highest was on the Quadra-Cortes route, at 26%.  The lowest was on the Powell River-Texada route, at 1%.

In future the Commission will be paying special attention to the minor routes’ “overloads” reports. Published today are the most recent service quality measures.  Also, visit our 4-year service quality report archive page, where you can find the historical frequency of of overloads, and other statistics such as on-time performance, for any route.

Should BC Ferries incur higher crewing costs to maintain some of its maximum allowed passenger loads, this does not mean that fares will rise accordingly, unless the company can satisfy the Commission that the circumstances are extraordinary under section 42 of the Coastal Ferry Act.

March 4, 2009
Price Cap Increases Established for the Upcoming Financial Year

Based on a formula set by the Commission in 2007, price caps will increase 3.74% on the major routes and 7.25% on other routes on April 1 2009. How these figures relate to the changes in the consumer price index over the past year is explained in Commission Memorandum 33.

For perspective, below is a timeline of fare levels from 2003 to 2012 projected as of March 7. Please be aware of a big assumption in the projection: that the current fare rebates, due to lower-than-expected fuel costs, continue unchanged. Also, these are the maximum ferry fare levels: in some cases in the past, notably for the minor routes, BC Ferries has actually charged fares a few percent less than the maximum.

January 27, 2009
Changes in Fares; Fuel Rebates to Begin February 12

Two changes in ferry fare levels will occur by mid-February 2009:

Here is a BC Ferries press release announcing the fuel rebates.

January 26, 2009
Search for Alternative Service Provider Ends for Three Routes

Earlier this year, BC Ferries undertook to seek for Alternative Service Providers on its the Campbell River-Quadra, Quadra-Cortes and Port McNeill-Sointula-Alert Bay routes.  BC Ferries is required to seek alternativ service providers under section 69 of the Coastal Ferry Act.

Today BC Ferries notified to the Commissioner that since no alternative service provider has elected to proceed, BC Ferries will continue to be the provider of service on these routes. 

Our updated web page ASP Plan Milestones reports events in the last 6 months on these and other routes.

December 17, 2008
Fuel Conservation Initiatives Reported By BC Ferries

Our fuel surcharge authorization of July 22 2008 required BC Ferries to report on fuel conservation measures for at least two years. Here is the first BC Ferries’ fuel conservation report in response to that requirement.

December 1, 2008
Developments in  Fares and Fare Caps

Today begins a two-month 33% reduction in ferry fares enabled by a one-time contribution by the Province of BC announced by the Premier on October 22 2008.

We have amended our policy for enforcement if BC Ferries’ actual average fares go above the cap in future.  The amendment gives BC Ferries more flexibility in shaping its fare structure within a 12-month period, but does not lift the cap in overall annual terms, as explained in our Memorandum 31 of today.

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