Happy holiday: BC Ferries boosts fares — again

The British Columbia Day long weekend began on a sour note for ferry passengers Friday: Fuel surcharges have bumped the cost of fares for the second time in four months.

BC Ferries says the surcharges, which were last hiked on April 1, are necessary to cover the cost of fuel, which nearly doubled between 2003 and 2008.

But critics such as John Sprungman, chair of the Quadra-Cortes ferry advisory committee, say the provincial government needs to give more money to the ferry system so passengers aren't forced to keep picking up the costs.

"Looking ahead — in the next 10 to 15 years — all of the ferries have to be replaced on the minor routes, and they're going to be very expensive," Sprungma said. "The way things are structured right now, all of those costs to finance the boats are going to get passed through to the customers unless the government recognizes that infrastructure for the ferries is similar to infrastructure for the highways."

Regular ferry passengers such as Bob Patterson say the fare increases have reached the point of diminishing returns.

"I think its getting to the point where BC Ferries is shooting themselves in the foot," the Saltspring Island resident said Friday. "Prices are high enough [that] people aren't using them and [BC Ferries] are going to lose their revenues and then they're going to start cutting trips, which is just a downward spiral."

Patterson, whose job as a building inspector in Victoria requires him to take the ferry nearly every day, said the fare hike, which will add $25 a week to his transportation costs, is "going to hurt big time."

And, Patterson said, there's no doubt the rising fares have resulted in fewer tourists visiting the picturesque island off the east coast of Vancouver Island.

"My better half has a store here, which is also affected by ferry fares," he said. "Tourism is definitely down. It's affected all the retailers on Saltspring.

"Normally in the summer, when you're driving into Ganges harbour [the island's commercial hub] there are cars parked … almost to the top of the hill."

That hasn't happened this summer, Patterson said. In fact, he said, the traffic has made it halfway up the hill only once: "That says it right there. The bodies aren't there."

The B.C. Ferry Commission, an independent government body, sets fare prices and surcharges for BC Ferries, which is a private corporation owned by the British Columbia Ferry Authority and funded by a government contract.

David Hahn, president of B.C. Ferries, could not be reached for comment on Friday.