BC Ferries.. more fuel to the fire....

[joel]

[nature boy]

you know, sometimes i wish i had a cushy job that would pay me lots. instead i have a stressful and demanding job that pays me peanuts.

[Wetundies]

nobody forced u to take ur job.

[nature boy]

that's what you think.

[Wetundies]

did a big black dude come and to u and said he'll rape u if u didn't?

[nature boy]

no not quite.

[Duncan]

some clown is proposing to have BC ferries paid by tax payers so ferries can be treated as a "coastal highway"... wtf...


yes, the solution to everything is tax everyone more

[tyson]

just scanned through some of the comments.

just to give the other side of the argument here, bc ferries is not a monopoly. westjet, harbour air, and helijet all have somewhat competitive rates and they are WAY faster and a much more enjoyable experience. I know that for a family of 4 to ferry them and a car over to the island is nearly the same as harbour air seaplane flight for 4. And that's pay for your ticket, walk on the tarmac and hop into a plane. None of the "fun" airport security we are all used to by now. And you arrive in 30min or less. BC Ferries also has the lowest ridership that its had in 20 years, so given the current conditions i can understand the decision to advertise. Though all the money they are spending just fuels rate increases. That's the real issue here i think. Econocollapse + high gas prices + mismanagement + way too many sailings at 20% capacity = high rates. Sure, BC Ferries employees prob get paid more than what "market value" is, but blame BC Ferries for awarding those salaries + benefits in the first place.

Also, the argument can (and is) being made that many people on the islands depend on the ferry as much (if not more) than our own highway systems on the mainland. Further to that, they as british columbians pay taxes to subsidize highways they never use. I can understand them asking the rest of british columbia to pony up for their hwy system as well. There are a lot of businesses on the islands that depend on ferry traffic and with bc ferries announcing that they are going to cut 400+ sailings on major routes in 2012 there are going to be a lot of people going from a bad to worse situation. But unless BC Ferries cuts costs, rates will just go up which will give the same result anyways--less people using bc ferries.

Ultimately, i still agree with the position that BC Ferries is broken. But figuring a way to cut costs and bring rates down is the only way people are going to want to use the ferries more. I have friends and family over on the island but with the cost/hassle to get down to a ferry terminal and wait for hours to board, i just can't be bothered to visit.

[nature boy]

they should just build bridges to connect everyone. problem solved.

[Wetundies]

How about hot air balloonsas an alternative?

[nature boy]

don't be silly. they're too slow.

[jeSteR]

[Wetundies]

[nature boy]

ok good point.

tunnels then.
or shuttle crafts like in star trek. it only takes minutes to get from san fran to france. it happened in an episode of voyager.

[Duncan]