What's New

February 23, 2010
Fuel Rebates to Start on Major Routes

The Commission requires BC Ferries to adjust fuel  rebates (or surcharges) once the savings (or extra costs), relative to the fuel “set price” already built into fare caps, accumulate to a certain level.  Accordingly, on April 1 2010, fuel rebates of 2% will begin on the major routes, offsetting much of the price cap increase of 2.68% for the major routes which was earlier announced for the same date (see item below).

For perspective, below is a timeline of fare levels from 2003 to 2012 projected as of today.  Please be aware of a big assumption in the projection: that fuel rebates, due to lower-than-expected fuel costs, continue unchanged.

 

February 12, 2010
Price Caps Set for the Year Starting April 1, 2010

The Commission announces that the price caps on BC Ferries’ fares will rise on April 1 2010 as follows:

  • 2.68% for the three major routes and
  • 5.68% for all other routes.

    • Here is Commission Memorandum 34 detailing the origin of these increases.

    Note that in some cases BC Ferries has charged fares a few percent less than the maximum represetned by the price cap: it is in fact doing so now on the northern routes and on Route 3 (Horseshoe Bay - Langdale), as reported in the item below the chart.

    February 12, 2010
    BC Ferries Reports Actual Fare Levels Are Below Caps on Northern Route and on Route 3 (Horseshoe Bay to Langdale)

    Every three months BC Ferries reports on how closely its actual fare levels track the maximum levels, or price caps, set by the Commission.  The current report shows BC Ferries has been charging significantly less than the cap on two route groups, meaning that the company today has room to increase fares by 4.2% on the northern routes and 3.4% the Horseshoe Bay to Langdale route.  This is in addition to expected fare increases following the April 1 2010 price cap increase announced above.

    January 7, 2010
    Fuel Rebates Reduced from 10% to 5% on Minor Route Group

    The Commission requires BC Ferries to adjust fuel  rebates (or surcharges) once the savings (or extra costs), relative to the fuel “set price” already built into fare caps, accumulate to a certain level.  Accordingly, on January 25 2010, fuel rebates on the minor routes will fall from 10% to 5%.

    November 16, 2009
    Commission Probes BCFS on Crewing Levels and Part-Empty Sailings

    Prompted by recent reports of vessels sailing with car decks only partly full, while leaving some customers behind on the dock waiting for the next sailing, the Commission asked BC Ferries for an update on how it is responding to the new crewing regulations from the federal government.   BC Ferries has indicated that these regulations are effectively reducing the carrying capacity of its vessels for a given crewing level. For more information, see the page under the Probes button on the left.

    September 30, 2009
    Commission Issues its Service Plan and Budget for 2010/11

    According to its Service Plan and Budget for 2010/11, the cost budget for operating the BC Ferry Commission in 2010/11 is $448,350, which is 52% of the maximum allowed amount. Under the Coastal Ferry Act, this cost is met by BC Ferries. The maximum allowed amount, in a year (such as 2010/11) when the Commission is to be engaged in a price cap review, is one fifth of one percent of BC Ferries’ fare revenue for the previous year.

    August 11, 2009
    BC Ferries’ Annual Report to the Commission is Available

    BC Ferries’ Annual Report to the Commission for 2008/9 contains data on:

  • ferry operational performance on each route (e.g. number of round-trips, vessel capacity, passengers and vehicles  carried, fare revenue, on-time performance, number of sailings which departed full leaving some customers behind, cancelled sailings and related measures of performance)
  • the financial performance of each route, including fare revenues, ancillary revenues (e.g. from onboard retail services), payments from governments, operating and capital costs, and data on fuel surcharges/rebates;
  • a customer satisfaction survey which is conducted annually by an external polling firm; and
  • a review of the proposals received and actions taken by BC Ferries in accordance with the Alternative Service Provider provisions of section 69 of the Coastal Ferry Act.

    • July 30, 2009
    Commission Issues Its Annual Report for Fiscal 2008/9

    The Annual Report of the BC Ferry Commission for 2008/9 records the Commission’s activities over the year and provides a financial report.  In their Message, the Commissioners state, among other things, that:

  • BC Ferries again substantially met its contractual obligation to provide core services;
  • productivity gains and innovation will be essential in the future, in order to moderate increases in payments from ferry customers and taxpayers;
  • low capacity utilization, notably on the minor routes in the winter where sailings average only 1/3 full, warrants examination by BC Ferries and the Province, which are the two parties to the Coastal Ferry Services Contract which specifies the service required; and
  • a longer than four-year period (which is the length of a performance term fixed by the Coastal Ferry Act) for BC Ferries to retain savings would more strongly encourage risk taking for productivity enhancement and innovation.

    • July 15, 2009
    BC Ferries Increases Fuel Rebate on Minor Routes to 8%

    Today BC Ferries increased fuel rebates on the minor routes from 5% of base fare level to 8%.

    June 12, 2009
    Commission Flags Deteriorating On-Time Performance on Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay Route

    The Commission noted a 3-year downward trend in the on-time performance of sailings on its busiest route. On June 12 it asked BC Ferries for an explanation.  On June 29 the company replied that the main reasons were a severe mechanical issue on its vessel the Spirit of British Columbia and the eight-month late completion of the Queen of New Westminster upgrade. You will find the Commission’s question and BC Ferries’ complete response under the Probes page on this web site.

    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.

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

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

  • on January 31, 2009 the two-month 33% reduction in ferry fares enabled by a contribution by the Province of BC will end; and
  • on February 12, 2009 fuel rebates of 5% (on the 18 minor routes) and 2% (on the Horseshoe Bay-Langdale Route) will begin.

    • 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.

     

    [Home] [About the Commission] [What's New] [What's Next] [About BC Ferries] [Other Ferry Companies] [Regulation of Fares] [Reg. of Service Levels] [Rulings] [Probes] [Public Input] [Downloads and Links] [Commissioners] [Contact the Commission]