|
Post by Scott on Sept 28, 2015 20:40:35 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by Mike C on Oct 22, 2015 8:05:29 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by WettCoast on Oct 22, 2015 10:29:43 GMT -8
PCL has operated the bus service between Vancouver & Victoria via BCF's Tsawwassen - Swartz Bay route since the beginning (1960), I think, though initially it was shared with Vancouver Island Coach Lines (VICL). In the early days PCL was called Pacific Stage Lines. There was no competition from transit buses until fairly recently. This is indeed, the end of an era.
There were other bus lines operating services via other BCF routes. Maverick Coach Lines, for instance, operated buses between Vancouver & Powell River using the ferries across Howe Sound & Jervis Inlet. Do they still exist? VICL, I believe, operated the service between Nanaimo & Vancouver using BCF's Departure Bay - Horseshoe Bay route. Is there any surviving coach lines service on route 2 today? VICL was absorbed into Greyhound Canada a number of years ago (IIRC).
|
|
|
Post by Curtis on Oct 22, 2015 11:10:35 GMT -8
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2015 12:19:42 GMT -8
And Greyhound to Nanaimo still exists, but the have a bus meeting the ferry at each end, as opposed to having the bus travelling on the ferry.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2015 12:00:18 GMT -8
More news on the Powell River Ferry thing. Mayor Formosa does not want the Salish Orca... but he suggests that the city would like something to replace the Burnaby. In any case, this one obviously won't fly, the Burnaby has less than a year left in service, and there is no time to get another vessel... unless he wants two boat service, such as the Queen of Cumberland and Bowen Queen (Cumberland would need NC II certification). I thought of the Cumberland when he mentioned brand new electronics. That boat would probably be the same as the Island Sky in terms of sea spray. Also, I'm glad they want an engineer-designed hull. Seems like a wise decision. On second thought, I think the Island Sky would be the logical choice, since she's already certified. While it would be a significant capacity reduction over the Orca, the Sky does have enough speed to do a fifth roundtrip in roughly the same timeframe as the current operational day. Article: www.prpeak.com/articles/2015/11/26/news/doc5655258d4140b749930598.txt
|
|
|
Post by roeco on Nov 28, 2015 8:23:33 GMT -8
Greyhound Only exists between Nanaimo and Victoria( and I think that will be gone in a year or so too) now except for all their Vancouver runs...They No longer run to Horeshoe Bay either! TOFINO BUS now runs Vancouver depot to Horsehoe Bay 3 times a day plus they service all Vancouver Island Nanaimo north plus 2 Victoria to Nanaimo runs. I exprect u will c Greyhound leave the Island and let Tofino bus have it all! Don't forget theirs a New Bus terminal location that has to be found in Victoria for Wilsons to Vancouver and TBS!
|
|
|
Post by roeco on Nov 28, 2015 8:26:37 GMT -8
More news on the Powell River Ferry thing. Mayor Formosa does not want the Salish Orca... but he suggests that the city would like something to replace the Burnaby. In any case, this one obviously won't fly, the Burnaby has less than a year left in service, and there is no time to get another vessel... unless he wants two boat service, such as the Queen of Cumberland and Bowen Queen (Cumberland would need NC II certification). I thought of the Cumberland when he mentioned brand new electronics. That boat would probably be the same as the Island Sky in terms of sea spray. Also, I'm glad they want an engineer-designed hull. Seems like a wise decision. On second thought, I think the Island Sky would be the logical choice, since she's already certified. While it would be a significant capacity reduction over the Orca, the Sky does have enough speed to do a fifth roundtrip in roughly the same timeframe as the current operational day. Article: www.prpeak.com/articles/2015/11/26/news/doc5655258d4140b749930598.txtAwesome Idea to run a made on the Sunshine Coast ferry service....but I would think maybe it would be preactical to take over Earls Cove-Saltery Bay, Westview to Little River and Westview to Texada all together..
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Nov 29, 2015 8:48:59 GMT -8
With the mayor of Powell River wanting neither the Salish Orca or the 'Queen of Burnaby', but something newer with all new techno. bells and whistles, I think it might be difficult to find a vessel that would meet the needs of that route. If a foreign vessel was located, wouldn't there be an import duty attached to it as well? The idea of taking over the E.C./S.B. route along with the Westview/Little River run does make some sense although another vessel or two would be needed. Perhaps the good mayor could be persuaded to take the new 'Salish Orca' on some sort of lease from BCF? The concept of a Sunshine Coast ferry service does provide some interesting and speculative food for thought, there may be too many financial and political hurdles to overcome.
|
|
|
Post by Kahn_C on Nov 29, 2015 10:28:21 GMT -8
Cynical tinfoil hat post: Powell River Council is probably trying to seize the opportunity to lock up offshore investment to create a shipbuilding industry on former Catalyst property. The plan would be to build experimental high speed craft that could be sold domestically as well as for the export market. With no existing ship-building facilities available in Powell River, Council would create a wholly owned subsidiary called Powell River Ferries International (PRFI), partnering with Slipstream Vehicles Ltd. (an existing local research and development company, more info) to design and build the vessels. The Province would of course welcome the proposal with open arms as a prime example of the empowerment of local government to step up and fill in some of the voids left by provincial policies as of late, plus the usual gushing about protecting the environment, creating jobs, building BC, etc... BC Ferries would enthusiastically embrace such a proposal, going so far as to offer to sell Powell River Council the Queen of Burnaby, The Tenaka and the Powell River Queen at a bargain price to be used on the existing Powell River runs until such time as the new vessels are up and running; at which time Council will be free to dispose of them as they see fit. All Three Salish class vessels will be deployed to SGI (Bumping the Skeena up to Quadra), Bowen finally gets the Island Sky, the Howe Sound Queen once again gets replaced by the Capilano, but this time can be scrapped (along with the NIP). I think I had too much coffee this morning.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2015 11:40:00 GMT -8
...and a few years after the fast ferries are built, they would be sold to Dennis Washington, and Christy's liberals would be reduced to just a handful of seats in the legislature.
|
|
|
Post by Scott on Dec 18, 2015 10:26:33 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by roeco on Dec 19, 2015 13:47:01 GMT -8
If Powell River wanted to take over ferry services....they should do it as a package deal...Powell River to Texada and Comox plus Earls Cove to Saltery Bay. Id say use the Island Sky. Queen of Cumberland, Tenaka and Bowen Queen. Run Comox out of Saltery Bay and leave Westview to the Texada run. Use the Queen of Cumberland for the Jervis Inlet run and Island SKy for COmox run. With Tenaka doing Texada and Bowen class vessel could sub for Texada or use on Jervis Inlet if needed. Then The Island Sky could be Powell RIver based with a decent schedule and be able to switch with the Cumby if needed. And Base All crew out of Powell River. When Bowen QUeen isn't in service it could be tied up at Earls Cove. I was thinking of other vessels too but u got to have a spare that can do Jervis Inlet or Texada without any issues.
|
|
|
Post by Low Light Mike on Dec 19, 2015 13:56:24 GMT -8
If Powell River wanted to take over ferry services....they should do it as a package deal...Powell River to Texada and Comox plus Earls Cove to Saltery Bay. Id say use the Island Sky. Queen of Cumberland, Tenaka and Bowen Queen. Run Comox out of Saltery Bay and leave Westview to the Texada run. Use the Queen of Cumberland for the Jervis Inlet run and Island SKy for COmox run. With Tenaka doing Texada and Bowen class vessel could sub for Texada or use on Jervis Inlet if needed. Then The Island Sky could be Powell RIver based with a decent schedule and be able to switch with the Cumby if needed. And Base All crew out of Powell River. When Bowen QUeen isn't in service it could be tied up at Earls Cove. I was thinking of other vessels too but u got to have a spare that can do Jervis Inlet or Texada without any issues. So, City of Powell River would be buying 4 vessels. That would be very expensive for the Powell River taxpayers. I'm sure BC Ferries would be a tough negotiation for the prices, especially for the 4th ship. And then two of those ships would need replacing by their new owners, relatively soon. I wonder how much each Powell River resident would be willing to pay for all that?
|
|
Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,177
|
Post by Neil on Dec 19, 2015 18:23:13 GMT -8
If Powell River wanted to take over ferry services....they should do it as a package deal...Powell River to Texada and Comox plus Earls Cove to Saltery Bay. Id say use the Island Sky. Queen of Cumberland, Tenaka and Bowen Queen. Run Comox out of Saltery Bay and leave Westview to the Texada run. Use the Queen of Cumberland for the Jervis Inlet run and Island SKy for COmox run. With Tenaka doing Texada and Bowen class vessel could sub for Texada or use on Jervis Inlet if needed. Then The Island Sky could be Powell RIver based with a decent schedule and be able to switch with the Cumby if needed. And Base All crew out of Powell River. When Bowen QUeen isn't in service it could be tied up at Earls Cove. I was thinking of other vessels too but u got to have a spare that can do Jervis Inlet or Texada without any issues. So, City of Powell River would be buying 4 vessels. That would be very expensive for the Powell River taxpayers. I'm sure BC Ferries would be a tough negotiation for the prices, especially for the 4th ship. And then two of those ships would need replacing by their new owners, relatively soon. I wonder how much each Powell River resident would be willing to pay for all that? The only part of this suggestion that works is the aspect of basing the Comox vessel on the mainland.
The 'Cumberland is in the long term plans for route five, and Tenaka is far too small for Texada, as well as being at the end of its service life. The Bowen Queen has maybe three or four years left, and is also too big and costly for Texada.
There is little logic, operationally or economically, to add at least an hour to the Comox route by basing the vessel at Saltery Bay.
Aside from this, I wonder if the city of Powell River has yet crunched any hard numbers in sussing out their idea.
|
|
|
Post by roeco on Dec 19, 2015 19:48:47 GMT -8
First of all I was just reading what PR is proposing to do...and I don't think BCF would actually sell any of their vessels... However I do think the idea of PR running the 3 routes has some merit.
|
|
Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,177
|
Post by Neil on Dec 19, 2015 20:11:16 GMT -8
First of all I was just reading what PR is proposing to do...and I don't think BCF would actually sell any of their vessels... However I do think the idea of PR running the 3 routes has some merit. And the merit is...? With municipalities being strapped for operating cash, how could it make sense for Powell River to take on any part of the cost of servicing Texada Island? Unless the province or BC Ferries is covering every penny or more of the cost- which seems unlikely- it would make about as much sense as West Vancouver offering to take over service to Bowen Island.
|
|
|
Post by Mike C on Dec 19, 2015 22:31:10 GMT -8
First of all I was just reading what PR is proposing to do...and I don't think BCF would actually sell any of their vessels... However I do think the idea of PR running the 3 routes has some merit. And the merit is...? With municipalities being strapped for operating cash, how could it make sense for Powell River to take on any part of the cost of servicing Texada Island? Unless the province or BC Ferries is covering every penny or more of the cost- which seems unlikely- it would make about as much sense as West Vancouver offering to take over service to Bowen Island. Re. cash flow for municipalities: Local governments receive about 8% of all total tax revenue that we pay. In 2015, when downloading responsibilities from higher levels of government on to municipalities is nearly an epidemic, it does not make sense to unnecessarily increase that financial and resource burden. There is a reason that certain responsibilities are allocated accordingly, particularly in the context of transportation, as per the Local Government Act, as much as we collectively inherently disagree with how those responsibilities are managed. There is no merit to this idea, unfortunately.
|
|
|
Post by WettCoast on Dec 22, 2015 19:57:34 GMT -8
I note an obituary written by Stephen Hume & published in today's Vancouver Sun for Stu Hodgson, once upon a time, the top guy at BC Ferries. He was for many years the Commissioner of the North West Territories before going to BCFC. The Bannerman BC Ferries book has some history on his time with the organization.
|
|
|
Post by Dane on Jan 8, 2016 21:51:59 GMT -8
Can anyone access Dear BC Ferries on Facebook? It's been unavailable for me for a sufficient amount of time that it seems like it's gone, or I'm blocked?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2016 22:37:34 GMT -8
Can anyone access Dear BC Ferries on Facebook? It's been unavailable for me for a sufficient amount of time that it seems like it's gone, or I'm blocked? I believe it's been taken down. See my post in the 3000-day thread.
|
|
Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,177
|
Post by Neil on Jan 8, 2016 23:31:01 GMT -8
Can anyone access Dear BC Ferries on Facebook? It's been unavailable for me for a sufficient amount of time that it seems like it's gone, or I'm blocked? I believe it's been taken down. See my post in the 3000-day thread. This facebook site is still thriving... and more worthwhile.
www.facebook.com/groups/255704557935903/
|
|
|
Post by Low Light Mike on Jan 9, 2016 9:24:54 GMT -8
I followed that group, and a north/mid coast protest group too. In the end, I dropped out because the political rhetoric from some of the local government participants was too much for this "facts & analysis boy" to handle. I was too hung up on incorrect facts being taken out of context for dramatic purposes. Not to the same degree as "Dear BC Ferries" was known for, but some minor items that I somehow wasn't able to ignore. It told me something about my own ability (or disability) to filter out the political rhetoric on items I'm interested in.
|
|
|
Post by Dane on Jan 9, 2016 16:51:50 GMT -8
I do find the two more substantial BC Ferries "protest" groups are starting to drift from reality a bit in their quest for better service and lower fares. It's a shame because the poorer job the groups use to present facts, the easier it is for BCFS to providee meaningful rebuttals. Which they do.
On the whole, though, as mentioned above the groups certainly aren't at the point of Dear BC Ferries which literally just fabricated Information.
My nerd heart also cried on Friday when an interview was done on CBC about the ferry situation plaguing the Powell River area with the Queen of Burnaby and NIP both down simultaneously. The otherwise logical, well-researched points came to a conclusion that the Queen of Burnaby doesn't need to be retired and that other major ferry operators in the world maintain older on average fleets. Perhaps in the third world. It was a shame that the pro-BC build bias got to the point of overseeing necessity and normalizing the Coho as a comparable operation, which it is not.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2016 15:38:42 GMT -8
BC Ferries has issued a statement defending the sale of the Queen of Chilliwack. Interesting to note, she wasn't directly sold to Goundar - here's what was said in the Q.2 results.
The other interesting item for us comes at the end, where they mentioned that three ships will be retired soon. I think this indirectly confirms the retirement of the Tenaka, meaning she will not recieve another life-extension. In other words, we can now say with certainty that the NIP replacement will be a new-to-BCF vessel.
|
|