On May 5, a revamped Queen of Capilano will be back in action between Horseshoe Bay and Snug Cove, with room for 15 extra cars on deck. Councillor Melanie Mason is hoping that those extra spots won’t actually be necessary, as efforts to reduce travel by car as well as the Bowen Island Municipal Transportation Advisory Committee (BIMTAC) works on bringing on more options for alternative modes of transportation.
“In January of 2015, we saw roughly 33 fewer cars getting on the ferry every day in comparison to January 2014. Also, we saw 2,000 extra foot passengers this January, which translates to roughly 93 extra foot passengers per-day as compared to January 2014,” says Mason. “The focus of my work when it comes to transportation is to make the transportation alternatives easier for commuters than taking the car would be.”
At council this week, Municipal Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Kathy Lalonde said that meetings with TransLink yielded positive results for at least the temporary continuation of the express bus that takes commuters downtown and back. TransLink agreed to temporarily transfer the Independent Transit Service (ITS) agreement to the Peter King, who runs the service, until the end of June. For the bus service to continue, either Peter King or the municipality will need to apply to the board of TransLink for a permanent ITS transfer.
BC Ferries also agreed to offer the bus the Experience Card rate for it’s journey back to Snug Cove on the 6:30 p.m ferry. This will bring the cost of the trip down by approximately $50.
Councillor Mason says that while ridership on the bus still needs to increase by roughly 20 people per day, she is hoping that the consistency, flexibility and reliability of the service will help bring those numbers up.
Mason says that thanks to John Reid, half of the Rennison parking lot will continue to offer commuters free parking for the da and that helping to create a reliable and sustainable water taxi service for Bowen will be next-up on BIMTAC’s agenda. There are plans, she says, to create a water taxi action group with councillor Michael Kaile acting as the liason.
