I went to the Port Townsend wooden boat show in September and took the ferry across from Whidbey island. It cost two of us plus the truck 15 dollars. We use to vacation about 2wks a year on Vancouver island but once we started doing the math it was far more economical for us to avoid the BC ferry system.The result is a few Vancouver island communities do not receive our vacation dollars which amounted to a cpl of thousand dollars.
We also seem to be frequenting the US more and more.We,like most others,are feeling more and more pinched via taxes,fees and service charges.

Ferry costs in BC are a bargain. Travel on a Washington State Ferry or go to Eastern Canada and Europe - you'll choke on the cost. I'm no supporter of David Hahn and his outrageous payout package from the Liberals, but British Columbians' need to appreciate the bargain BC Ferries offers.

Well is that not a kick in the posterior for users of the Ferry system. It seems these overlords have absolutely no concept on how to think out side of the box and find real ways to attract ridership.

As the price increases, ferry ridership will simply grow smaller. So much for tourism on the Islands and Sunshine Coast.

While BC Ferry fares may be less than other places, the circumstances are materially different. Almost 20% of the population lives on Vancouver Island. No European ferry system provides services to such a high percentage of any jurisdiction's people. In Washington State, the ferries service a small percentage of the state population and some of the ferries service communities that are not on islands. In E Canada, there is now a bridge to PEI, so it is only Newfoundland that is isolated. Also, the Nerwfoundland route is not comparable due to the distance.

As for reducing the fares to increase the ridership-this is the classic "make it up in the volume" fallacy. If the marginal or incremental cost of salings is greater than the incremental revenue received by charging lower fares and increasing ridership, then you will simply sail into bankruptcy. I am sure that is the calculation they have had to make-they just can't get enough additional riders to cover the incremental costs.

The bottom line is that many of the people who work for BC Ferries make more money and receive more benefits than the traffic will bear, and the ability of general revenue to cover the difference is diminishing at an accelerating rate. This will get worse as the twin financial clouds of massive increases in health care spending and additional costs to cover pension shortfalls begin to emerge. Get ready for massive increases in taxation because there is no way Adrian DIx is going to do anything other than give in to public sector labour.

goodbye Vancouver Island, I love you but can't afford you thanks to BC ferries

Victoria to Port Angeles is $17.00 U.S. one way for passenger and $61.50 U.S. vehicle and driver one way. Sidney to Anacortes if $18.00 U.S. one way for passenger and $38.35 U.S. one way for vehicle and driver. Prince Edward Island to Nova Scotia is $17.00 per passenger round trip and $66.00 round trip for vehicle and driver. New Brunswick to Nova Scotia is $42.00 per passenger one way and $84.00 for vehicle one way. The ferry in Ontario is $16.25 for passenger one way and $44.00 for vehicle one way. In Newfoundland there are two ferry routes. One is $40.76 for passenger one way and $146.41 for vehicle one way. Fuel surcharge is included. The other is $107.85 for passenger one way and $216.78 for vehicle one way. Fuel charge is included.