The denial by B.C. Ferries of entry and exit through the security gate, or Village Gate, at the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal continues to cause problems for some islanders. But the ferry corporation is unwavering in its decision to keep the gate locked.
Barb Weismiller is a senior with an arthritic back who's had two hip replacement surgeries. She says B.C. Ferries won't issue her the pass needed to go through the gate between the ferry loading area and the village of Horseshoe Bay. It is locked and only people with bikes, kayaks or dogs are given the four-digit code to get through the gate.
Three weeks ago, Weismiller says she and friend Dawn Smoke talked a ticket booth attendant into issuing them each a pass for entry onto the ferry via the village gate but that was the only time. Since then, each have been told they cannot be issued one as they don't meet the criteria, Weismiller says.
The long-time Bowen resident finds the journey along the overhead walkway difficult and says it takes her a long time. While trying to board the ferry two weeks ago, she took so long to get to the waiting room that the overhead walkway boarding entry was closed by the time she got there. She then had to turn around and go downstairs stairs pose extra problems for her to load from the car deck.
She ran out of breath and out of patience with the system.
"The whole thing is just so hard for me and I get so tired and I just think they should have some kind of a pass so people who have problems don't have to walk that long walk," Weismiller said in a talk with the Undercurrent earlier this week. "It's a shame they don't have a pass for people like me and I'm not sure what to do. It does no good to phone them. They don't listen."
Deborah Marshall, director for media relations at B.C. Ferries, said she wasn't familiar with Weismiller's story but she did say the changes at the ferry terminal are intended to increase pedestrian safety and security. She said she appreciates it's a new system and that customers are still learning the best way to get around with it.
Meanwhile Weismiller's friend, Dawn Smoke, has attempted many times to get the attention of someone at B.C. Ferries over the issue of people with less mobility and the use of the village gate.
"Some of us are old, some of us are feeble, some of us are arthritic or have a range of physical problems that make that walkway arduous," Smoke says. "Victoria has told me they're working on the problem but without consistent pressure, well...."
Smoke also said that B.C. Ferries sent her a couple of free passes and coffee vouchers "nice...told them they couldn't buy me off that easy and haven't used them."
A ferry employee told Weismiller to bring her walker and she's considering doing so. But it's not a quick way to travel and she's concerned she'll have to mount or descend stairs with it. "It didn't matter to them what anyone else thought about all this," she said. "They made no arrangements for people who have trouble with the long walk or the stairs.
"They just went and did it anyway."
