Gibsons council is asking staff to look into the costs of drafting a “business case” for a Gibsons to Vancouver passenger ferry.
The report can then be used to “inform further discussion with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure regarding possible sources of funding to support such a service.”
Coun. Jeremy Valeriote put forward a motion at the May 8 council meeting as a follow-up to meetings he had with Transportation Minister Claire Trevena at last year’s Union of BC Municipalities and last month in Victoria.
“They’re asking for some cost, revenue and socio-economic analysis to find out, if they were to consider a subsidy, what would be required,” said Valeriote. “I think it fits in with our harbour economic development work.”
The original motion called for staff to start work on the business case right away, but Mayor Wayne Rowe said he wanted to know more about potential costs first. “We don’t have anything in the budget for exploring a business case in 2018, so I don’t know where this fits exactly,” he said.
CAO Emanuel Machado suggested money might be available through the Gibsons Harbour operating fund.
“There’s no great urgency, but it’s nice to keep this moving and possibly go back to the minister at UBCM in September,” Valeriote said.
Valeriote’s motion was passed just hours after the only company to run passenger ferries between Gibsons and Vancouver in recent years, Pacific Ferries, confirmed it will resume service on May 21.
The company suspended the commuter run last fall over a dispute with the Vancouver Park Board about wharf use.
In a notice to customers, Pacific Ferries said it will now use the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Coal Harbour as the Vancouver stop on the Gibsons-Horseshoe Bay-Vancouver route.
