The ferry running between Horseshoe Bay and Snug Cove is now, officially, running on the summer schedule. With that though, comes good news from BC Ferries: they’ve decided to re-instate morning sailings at 7 and 7:30 am on Saturdays, and 9 and 9:35pm on Sundays.
BC Ferries cut the sailings from the schedule in April, 2014, invoking a protest in Snug Cove. Adam Holbrook, the then-chair of the Bowen Island Municipal Transportation Advisory Committee (BIMTAC), called the cuts “arbitrary.”
In 2016, council made restoring these cuts a strategic priority, and BIMTAC set out to create a business-case for re-instating the sailings.
“There were 400 responses to the survey we created to find out how people are affected by the cuts,” says BIMTAC chair David Hocking. “There was data about new families moving to Bowen, and young families in particular being adversely affected by the cuts. BIMTAC member Susanna Braund, councillor Melanie Mason and members of the public all worked hard on this. I think it proves that when we all get on board with an issue, we can make change.”
Darin Guenette, Public Affairs Manager for BC Ferries, says that after a thorough analysis, BC Ferries believes that they will be able to break-even on these two runs.
“The government won’t give us any more money to increase the service,” says Guennette. “But we’ve looked at all the numbers and think that bringing those runs back is a safe risk, and we would like to try and help the community.”
For now, the reinstatement of these two sailings is considered a pilot project, and if BC Ferries loses money on them they are likely to be cut.
