Ferry Advisory Committee Action Minutes

Salt Spring Island Ferry Advisory Committee Date: April 11, 2013 Time: 6:30 p.m.

Location: Harbour House Hotel

Participants: FAC Committee BC Ferries Chris Gadsby Rob Clarke, Executive Vice President and CFO (present from agenda

point 3.g onwards) Peter Grant Corrine Storey, Vice President, Customer Services Howard Holzapfel Captain Lewis MacKay, Marine Superintendent, Southern Islands Bob Jones Steve Nussbaum, Regional Manager, Terminal Operations South Charles Kahn David Hendry, Director, Strategic Planning Wayne McIntyre Darin Guenette, Manager, Public Affairs Scott Simmons Absent Milton Almeida Jennifer Ritson Harold Swierenga – Chair

1. Call to Order and introductions: 6:30 p.m.

2. Approval of Agenda: It was noted that Island Pathways would make a presentation during the discussion of the ‘bicycle fare’ agenda item. Thereafter, the agenda was approved.

3. Agenda Items:

a. Crofton signage and ticket purchasing – Scott Simmons said that he has been suggesting placement of a sign at the Crofton terminal for some time. The idea would be to encourage those waiting in a vehicle line-up to proceed to the ticket booth to purchase their ticket, so there would be no unnecessary cut-offs during loading. Steve replied that the recently implemented electronic sign at Vesuvius will be a successful pilot and lead to similar signs at other terminals like Crofton. He added that it is worth noting that BC Ferries cannot erect signage on the roadway leading to the terminal, as this is not BC Ferries-controlled property, and that ‘hot-ticketing’ is not as much of a problem as it is perceived to be.

Corrine said that if the Vesuvius sign pilot goes well, BC Ferries will plan to install a similar sign at Crofton for the fall of 2013. ACTION: Steve Nussbaum to review and install wooden sign at Crofton while other options are considered.

b. Vesuvius holding lot layout – Scott noted that in peak season, vehicles at the rear of lanes 1 or 2 may end up blocking access to higher lanes. He suggested the lanes be re-numbered, from ‘right to left’, and that BC Ferries employees park in nearby unattended lot. David replied that BC Ferries has a current project ongoing that will re-locate crew parking and increase the efficiency of current compound spaces, and that the preliminary plan for replacing the trestle (approximately seven years away) will allow for 10-12 vehicles to line up there. Capt MacKay said there had been a recent plan to expand this lot, but this is being reexamined for lower cost options. ACTION: Steve Nussbaum will analyze the possibility of reversing the lane numbering at Vesuvius terminal.

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c. Route 4 to 1 connection ticketing – Charles stated that transferring for foot passengers at Swartz Bay is a long, onerous walk and may cause one to miss a connection. He suggests that it would be easier to use ‘car deck-to-deck’ transfers. Steve answered that it is critical to ensure an accurate passenger count is kept, and this can only be done with passage through the ticketing area. He added that the current point-of-sale and reservation upgrade project is planning to see a kiosk installed in the lower lounge area, thus allowing scanning of boarding passes for accurate counts. The estimate for earliest implementation of this kiosk is early-2015. Capt MacKay said that it is also important to keep passengers and vehicles separate whenever possible. Further discussion occurred around similar issues of making connections at Tsawwassen.

d. Effectiveness of ‘first 20 vehicle’ policy – Wayne said that the Route 4 policy of begin unloading with the first 20 vehicles that loaded is working well. Bob added that Route 1 crew is also very accommodating if they are aware that one is transferring to Route 4.

e. Bicycle fare for seniors (Mon-Fri) – Charles pointed out that a fare oddity is present: seniors are free Monday to Thursday, but must pay $2 for a bicycle, while non-seniors are not charged. At the same time, seniors are not charged for a bicycle Friday to Sunday. Corrine speculated that the difference seems to be when one is using an Experience Card versus when they are not; she asked Charles to send a copy of his receipt the next time this occurs. ACTION: Corrine Storey will check why seniors travelling Monday to Thursday, using their Experience Card and receiving a 100% discount, are charged for a bicycle.

Presentation: John Rowlandson, representing Island Pathways, expressing concern that BC Ferries is not allowing sufficient space for cyclists as part of the ‘Fulford roadway expansion’ project. See Annex A. David noted that the primary concern for this project has always been safety for all users (vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians) with a focus on the ‘pinch-point’ at the top of the hill, as well as being able to provide a third lane for two-way emergency traffic flow. BC Ferries has been working through road designs in order to comply with Ministry lane width regulations. Given the limited space available for three vehicle lanes, the inclusion of a 1.5 metre pathway is possible. ACTION: David Hendry will share final plans for Fulford roadway design with Islands Pathway.

On a related note, Peter Grant asked why pedestrians and cyclists are unloading first, leaving them in possible conflict with vehicles. Capt MacKay said that BC Ferries has heard from these customers on numerous occasions, and that they would strongly disagree that it makes sense to hold back cyclists or pedestrians.

f. Experience Card buy-in levels – Charles asked why the recent E-Card buy-in increased by greater than 10% when fares only increased by 4%; people with lower income are having more and more difficulty accessing discounts. Corrine replied that the E-Card was implemented to replace prepaid tickets, and the buy-in needs to exceed the cost of two sailings on the highest fare able to receive the discount, which is Route 3. The more discounts are being accessed, the more fares may actually be driven up to compensate for lost revenue, so it is a delicate balance to set accessibility levels. She added that ideas are coming from all committees to adapt to a frequent usage (coffee-card) model, amongst others. Rob Clarke noted that BC Ferries is exploring ideas with the Province about how to identify those most in need, so that they could receive applicable discounts without use of the E-Card. Chris asked why customers could not set their own buy-in levels, and Rob replied that this would increase access to discounts widely and drive up fares overall. He noted that the current buy-in levels are still lower than the cost of the previous book of tickets.

g. Long Harbour property use – Scott brought forth an idea to make a ‘demonstration forest’ in the lands near Long Harbour terminal. Corrine said this sounded like a great idea. ACTION: Corrine Storey will connect Scott Simmons with Ross Cameron to explore

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ideas for a demonstration forest on land near Long Harbour terminal.

h. Overlength fare status – Bob asked if there is any plan to change how overlength vehicles are charged. Rob said there is no progress, as FACs are telling BC Ferries that this is no appetite to eliminate overlength fares at the expense of increasing basic fare levels. However, the current IT upgrade project will introduce the ability to consider changing fares in a variety of ways.

i. Queen of Nanaimo replacement – Rob stated that the Queen of Nanaimo is nearing the end of its expected life and needs to be replaced (along with Queen of Burnaby). He explained that BC Ferries did not want to hold information sessions earlier, during the Province’s consultation process, as it was too easy to confuse customers or hamper either process. Therefore, there is an urgency to get into the communities served by the Nanaimo and explain the rationale/process for vessel replacement, as public input to the Commissioner is important.

The plan is to replace the Burnaby/Nanaimo with three intermediate class ferries. The basic platform of this ferry would hold 85 vehicles on the main deck, with the ability to add 40 more spaces with gallery decks and 20 additional spaces with platform. BC Ferries would replace these two vessels with two 145-vehicle and one 125-vehicle ships. One of the 145-vehicle ships would be the year-round, Long Harbour vessel and the 125-vehicle vessel would augment the route full-time for a 5-6 month period, beginning early May and extending until after Thanksgiving. This would essentially be a replacement for the Bowen Queen, which could then be redeployed elsewhere in the fleet. This 125-vehicle vessel would also be available for relief duties on Routes 7, 9 and 17 during the winter season.

BC Ferries looked at three replacement options for the Queen of Nanaimo: - life extend the Nanaimo - 1, 195-vehicle ferry - Current plan as outlined

During the upcoming information sessions, BC Ferries will seek input on onboard amenities sought by customers. These vessels will be built to ‘Near Coastal’ certification and be double-ended.

4. Presentations:

a. Public: covered previously.

b. Operations Report – Captain MacKay provided a summary of notable occurrences in the past year and a preview of undertakings pertaining to Routes 4, 5 and 9 in the near future. A brief review of traffic, on-time performance statistics, and previous meeting action items was included.

5. Correspondence: nothing presented.

6. New Business: a. BC Services Card – Darin Guenette told the committee that, with the Province’s introduction of the BC Services Card, BC Ferries ticketing agents are now required to perform an inspection of this card when a senior is using it to receive a travel discount. This may delay transactions, but must be done each time.

7. Next meeting: Darin noted a WebEx format meeting is planned in the fall, details to follow. Approved:

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Capt. Lewis MacKay, Marine Sup’t Date: July 9, 2013

Bob Jones, acting-Chair Date: Approved later

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Annex A: Island Pathways presentation

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