Many Sunshine Coast residents are opposed to the trial; on April 29, a petition had garnered more than 8,300 signatures
(By News Desk)
BC Ferries has released more details of its upcoming trial with 95 per cent reservations for vehicles – and 5 per cent permanently reserved for emergency responders and people travelling under the Medical Assured Loading Program.
The trial starts on June 21. Reservations can be made from the end of May.
Many Sunshine Coast residents are opposed to the trial. On Thursday evening, more than 8,300 people had signed a petition.
A background story on the ferry trial:
Legal challenge could be the only way to sink BC Ferries’ plans
The following is a selection from a BC Ferries website page called “A new, more certain way to travel from and to the Sunshine Coast this summer.” The page gives some information and then tries to answer concerns.
“For customers with a reservation
Tell us when you plan to travel by making a free reservation – you can do this up to 45-minutes in advance of your sailing.
Book online at bcferries.com or contact our Customer Service Centre at 1-888-223-3779 and book by phone.
Pay for your fare in full at the time of your booking.
Choose between two new fares: Prepaid and Saver.
Prepaid fares are $25 one-way for a standard vehicle and include a free reservation. Arrive at the terminal 30 to 90 minutes before your sailing. You no longer need to show up hours in advance to try and make a sailing. Your free reservation provides travel certainty.
Saver is our best value fare, ranging from $14.50 to $22 one-way for a standard vehicle, including a free reservation. Saver fares are available on select sailings at less busy times. Arrive at the terminal 45 to 90 minutes before your sailing and you’re guaranteed a place onboard.
Let us know if your travel plans change. You can make changes to your booking up to 45-minutes before your scheduled departure. Only some of our sailings are fully booked, so if you need to travel on short notice, or make a change, there should be space available on many sailings.”
“For walk-on customers
No need to reserve, just show up when you want to travel. Walk-on passengers will pay round-trip at Horseshoe Bay terminal only.
Use your Experience Card for payment if you wish.”
“For customers without a reservation
Visit bcferries.com to see if reservations are available on the sailing you want. If so, choose between making a free reservation, paying between $14.50 – $25, and being guaranteed to get on that sailing, or drive up to the terminal without a booking.
Pay $33 for a one-way vehicle fare at the terminal and use your Experience Card for payment if you wish. Travel on the next available sailing, space permitting, in the order you arrive at the terminal. Sailing waits are possible during popular sailing times.”
“For commercial customers
Tell us when you plan to travel by making a free reservation – up to 45 minutes in advance of the sailing. All commercial customers now need to reserve, and we have increased reservation space to make that easier.”
“Some people may abuse the trial by buying multiple trips to resell at a higher price.
During the summer, only about one-third of sailings leave the dock full. This number will drop as price incentives draw travellers to less busy sailings. You won’t need to resort to a third-party seller to get on. Buying up reservations won’t earn anyone a profit if there are more reservations available.”
“I don’t have a credit card or internet access.
You don’t need either to make a reservation. You will be able to pay online and over the phone using Mastercard Debit or Visa Debit. Or you can visit the terminal administration office, book in advance, and pay with cash.”
Note from the Coast Clarion: Prepayment with cash requires an extra trip to the terminal.
“I can’t change my travel plans at the last minute during the Trial.
You can change your Prepaid or Saver booking up to 45 minutes before your scheduled departure time.
You can also cancel your Prepaid booking up to two hours before your scheduled departure time for a full refund, less a $10 cancellation fee. Saver fare bookings can be cancelled up to 11:59 PM the day before departure for a full refund of the fare, less a $10 cancellation fee.”
“You’re going to keep my full fare if I’m late to the ferry.
No, if you arrive late and miss your check-in window, you can use your Saver or Prepaid fare towards the cost of an At Terminal fare and just pay the difference in price. Your fare must be put towards a different sailing on the same route, on the same day. At Terminal fare conditions apply, so you will be boarded after reserved customers in the order you arrive on the next available sailing, based on space availability.”
“I’m a commuter and I can’t afford to prepay for all of my bookings in advance.
We are increasing reservation space so you should be able to reserve on shorter notice. We are also looking at staggering the release of reservation space to accommodate customers with last minute travel plans. On average during the summer, only about one-third of sailings leave the dock full.”
“I can’t use my Experience Card to make advance bookings.
During the Trial, the Experience Card will not provide a discount at the terminal. Advanced purchase fares will always be cheaper than the At Terminal fare. Experience Cards cannot be used to pay for bookings online, but can still be used as a payment type at the terminal.
To request a refund of the balance of your Experience Card, you can contact the Customer Service Centre. Should the terms and conditions of the Experience card change, registered card holders will be notified.”
“I’m traveling on the Provincial Travel Assistance Program (TAP) and don’t know which fare to book.
If you’re travelling on TAP, select the Prepaid fare option. This can be done online or through our Customer Service Centre. At the moment, you will pay for your full fare in advance, which includes a free reservation, and then upon check-in at the terminal, the fare will be refunded back to your original form of payment and charged to the TAP form used to pay for travel.
Website modifications are underway to allow TAP bookings to be made without payment in advance and we’re hoping to have that feature in place around the start of the Trial.”
“Seniors don’t benefit from this Trial.
BC Seniors will continue to travel free from Monday to Thursday (excluding holidays). You can take advantage of the new Saver fare and will pay less than you do now, and only be charged for the cost of the vehicle ($14.50 – $22 for one standard vehicle, one-way).”
Note from The Coast Clarion: seniors will pay less than they do now if they take the ferry at unpopular times.