Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,175
|
Post by Neil on Apr 8, 2017 10:58:01 GMT -8
We are losing a gem of a reporter, and one of the few remaining media voices for ferry & coastal-community sustainabily issues. Stephen Hume is leaving the Vancouver Sun. He took a layoff, so that a younger colleague could keep his job. That's a beautiful gesture in a sad situation. Signing-off column HEREThe American hedge fund vultures who own Postmedia are draining the papers of every last bit of possible revenue before they shut them down. When I started at what was then Pacific Press in 1974, there were 1500 employees. I heard the union VP say that after this round of layoffs, there will be 128. They don't have enough people or resources left to cover any aspect of the news... the Globe and Mail breaks more meaningful BC stories, with their tiny newsroom. It's worse than sad when there is no one left to hold powerful people accountable. There are no internet outlets with the resources the press used to have to really cover things. I'll be keeping all the articles Stephen Hume wrote on BC Ferries and its relationship with our coast. Stellar writing, well researched, and full of compassion for coastal communities. He will be missed.
|
|
|
Post by WettCoast on Apr 8, 2017 11:22:50 GMT -8
We are losing a gem of a reporter, and one of the few remaining media voices for ferry & coastal-community sustainabily issues. Stephen Hume is leaving the Vancouver Sun. He took a layoff, so that a younger colleague could keep his job. That's a beautiful gesture in a sad situation. Signing-off column HEREThis is really too bad, but predictable, I guess. As we go forward we will have 'journalism' on our coastal ferry system that ranges from regurgitated government/ BCFS press releases to 'Dear BC ferries Facebook' posts, but almost nothing of real value.
|
|
Ferryman
Voyager
Posts: 7,474
Member is Online
|
Post by Ferryman on Apr 9, 2017 16:13:07 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by Blue Bus Fan on Jun 5, 2017 13:55:05 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by roeco on Jun 5, 2017 20:02:14 GMT -8
I did watch the fac meeting on the net and I must admit it was a very informative meeting, The Triangle run had a formal request and Wed and Sun were choosen due to the flexibility it could have in the schedule on those days. The First sailing of the day from Powell River would stop at Texada as well as the last sailing of the day from Comox.
|
|
|
Post by WettCoast on Jun 14, 2017 15:51:27 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by hwy19man on Jun 22, 2017 4:08:40 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by WettCoast on Jul 1, 2017 18:30:38 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Jul 2, 2017 10:29:38 GMT -8
Both of those initiatives work for me. Does anyone have the 'Coles Notes' on the Green Party's platform vis a vis Ferry policies? If the 'coalition' government could get these policy changes into the BCFS mix sooner than later, we could reap the benefits for a wee bit of time as no one knows how long the 'coalition' will survive, then there would be the time period for another election etc. Reducing the seniors' benefits by Christie's gang was despicable!
|
|
|
Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 2, 2017 15:46:43 GMT -8
Both of those initiatives work for me. Does anyone have the 'Coles Notes' on the Green Party's platform vis a vis Ferry policies? If the 'coalition' government could get these policy changes into the BCFS mix sooner than later, we could reap the benefits for a wee bit of time as no one knows how long the 'coalition' will survive, then there would be the time period for another election etc. Keep in mind that it's not a coalition. The Green Party is still separate and is not part of government caucus or cabinet. The written agreement between BC-Green and BC-NDP is that the Greens will support the NDP on house votes on two things: 1) Confidence motions. 2) Supply (ie. budget) motions. That being said, if the NDP wants to do types of legislation (other than a budget), it will need the 3 votes from the Green caucus. So that means that the new legislation needs to appeal to the Greens. The 3 Greens won't just automatically vote "Yes" on everything.
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Jul 2, 2017 19:39:17 GMT -8
Both of those initiatives work for me. Does anyone have the 'Coles Notes' on the Green Party's platform vis a vis Ferry policies? If the 'coalition' government could get these policy changes into the BCFS mix sooner than later, we could reap the benefits for a wee bit of time as no one knows how long the 'coalition' will survive, then there would be the time period for another election etc. Keep in mind that it's not a coalition. The Green Party is still separate and is not part of government caucus or cabinet. The written agreement between BC-Green and BC-NDP is that the Greens will support the NDP on house votes on two things: 1) Confidence motions. 2) Supply (ie. budget) motions. That being said, if the NDP wants to do types of legislation (other than a budget), it will need the 3 votes from the Green caucus. So that means that the new legislation needs to appeal to the Greens. The 3 Greens won't just automatically vote "Yes" on everything. I used the term 'coalition' quite by mistake, for as you correctly point out, the modus operendi between the NDP and the Greens is anything but a coalition. I have been summoned for punishment tonight at 23:00 hours, to be accompanied only with a bar of soap.
|
|
|
Post by hwy19man on Jul 31, 2017 14:17:47 GMT -8
An infant suspected of having a seizure led B.C. Ferries to turn around the Spirit of British Columbia Sunday afternoon, leading to a delay of 74 minutes on the Swartz Bay-Tsawwassen run. The vessel had left Swartz Bay, but returned to the dock to get the child to medical help. It was “deemed medically necessary to turn ship around,” B.C. Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall said. The vessel was full. B.C. Ferries said that all traffic is expected to be carried by the end of the day. “We hope for a speedy recovery for the child,” Marshall added.www.timescolonist.com/news/local/swartz-bay-tsawwassen-ferry-delayed-sunday-by-medical-emergency-1.21483654 The vessel left SWB at 1300h before the ship turned around. The SBC was almost two hours behind schedule for its 1900h and 2100h sailings.
|
|
dave2
Chief Steward
Deckhand!: Todo: Introduction post (I was born less than 100 feet from the ocean. The tide was...)
Posts: 155
|
Post by dave2 on Jul 31, 2017 19:30:17 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by hwy19man on Aug 1, 2017 13:18:18 GMT -8
The opening three sentences from the link Dave2 posted.
B.C. Ferries is in turmoil on its Southern Gulf Island routes. And travellers are paying the price in extra costs and hassles. The situation could grow more tense as this August long weekend approaches.
The latest: B.C. Ferries is telling would-be customers that certain ferry runs between the Gulf Islands and Vancouver can’t be reserved for cars, since, ostensibly, they’re full.
But some of those same ferry runs are cruising almost half empty, as we discovered Sunday night.
The last sentence will surely raise many eyebrows.
|
|
|
Post by hwy19man on Aug 3, 2017 12:18:25 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by hwy19man on Aug 5, 2017 13:48:20 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by hwy19man on Aug 8, 2017 11:07:00 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by hwy19man on Aug 9, 2017 12:44:20 GMT -8
The reservation issue is talked about again. It was hours of stress ferry passenger Sue Maclean says could have been avoided.
"It said hours in advance, that it was at 100 per cent capacity. There's no way you're getting on," said Maclean.
"Then, at 9 o'clock, we checked it again, and, lo and behold, there's 30 per cent of the space available."
How much of a vessel can be reserved varies by route and terminal, but from Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay, about 40 per cent of the deck space can be booked in advance, Marshall said.
Still, they took their chances and got on the 9:30 p.m. sailing — only to find the boat leaving with room for dozens more cars. The BCF website at 1800h did show that both routes 2 and 30 were full.www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ferry-passenger-fuming-after-full-sailing-leaves-partly-empty-1.4239104
|
|
|
Post by vancouverecho on Aug 9, 2017 13:59:02 GMT -8
The reservation issue is talked about again. It was hours of stress ferry passenger Sue Maclean says could have been avoided.
"It said hours in advance, that it was at 100 per cent capacity. There's no way you're getting on," said Maclean.
"Then, at 9 o'clock, we checked it again, and, lo and behold, there's 30 per cent of the space available."
How much of a vessel can be reserved varies by route and terminal, but from Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay, about 40 per cent of the deck space can be booked in advance, Marshall said.
Still, they took their chances and got on the 9:30 p.m. sailing — only to find the boat leaving with room for dozens more cars. The BCF website at 1800h did show that both routes 2 and 30 were full.www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ferry-passenger-fuming-after-full-sailing-leaves-partly-empty-1.4239104 Two things come to mind: 1. Why on earth was she trying to race to the last sailing of the day without a reservation on a long weekend? That just screams lack of preparation and planning; if you need to get back home on a long weekend on a ferry, either arrive early, or get a reservation. That is how it always has worked. 2. The ferry could already be maxed out to it's maximum legal passenger capacity. So, even if there was room for more vehicles, they could not take more passengers due to federal regulations.
|
|
|
Post by futureferrydriver on Aug 9, 2017 15:19:09 GMT -8
The reservation issue is talked about again. It was hours of stress ferry passenger Sue Maclean says could have been avoided.
"It said hours in advance, that it was at 100 per cent capacity. There's no way you're getting on," said Maclean.
"Then, at 9 o'clock, we checked it again, and, lo and behold, there's 30 per cent of the space available."
How much of a vessel can be reserved varies by route and terminal, but from Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay, about 40 per cent of the deck space can be booked in advance, Marshall said.
Still, they took their chances and got on the 9:30 p.m. sailing — only to find the boat leaving with room for dozens more cars. The BCF website at 1800h did show that both routes 2 and 30 were full.www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ferry-passenger-fuming-after-full-sailing-leaves-partly-empty-1.4239104 Tough issue for sure; on the one hand it sucks for the people they sent to Swartz Bay because the ferries were full, and I would be choked if it was me and I found out the ferry left not even close to full. But on the other hand it's impossible to predict how many people aren't going to show up for their reservations. It would be equally bad, maybe even worse, if they had been telling people to stay in case reservations didn't show up, and then have all the ressies show up and then have the last sailing leave behind a huge overload. I wonder if the reason for so many unclaimed ressies on that 9:05 sailing was double booking by people. Its been talked about before, but maybe its time to look into the one resevation per vehicle thing, or perhaps some sort of pentalty for not cancelling or claiming your reservation. This looks to me like there were a bunch of cars that made reservations for an earlier ferry they wanted, and then also made "backup reservations" so they could get off the island that night in case they missed their earlier ferry. ~35% of deck space seems like a lot of cars to not show up...
|
|
dave2
Chief Steward
Deckhand!: Todo: Introduction post (I was born less than 100 feet from the ocean. The tide was...)
Posts: 155
|
Post by dave2 on Aug 9, 2017 18:01:13 GMT -8
The reservation issue is talked about again. It was hours of stress ferry passenger Sue Maclean says could have been avoided.
"It said hours in advance, that it was at 100 per cent capacity. There's no way you're getting on," said Maclean.
"Then, at 9 o'clock, we checked it again, and, lo and behold, there's 30 per cent of the space available."
Best comment: The headline here should be "I chose to travel on a long weekend, but I didn't reserve, and I still made the ferry, and yet I am still complaining".
|
|
|
Post by Low Light Mike on Aug 10, 2017 9:37:17 GMT -8
An interesting source of news at BC Ferries, which I follow, is the weekly BCFMWU President's blog: HEREIt gives good general indications of operational issues in the fleet and terminals, and even with implementation of new ships.
|
|
|
Post by hwy19man on Aug 18, 2017 3:06:20 GMT -8
|
|
Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,175
|
Post by Neil on Aug 18, 2017 20:11:41 GMT -8
Well, gee, who would have thought? They build a ferry smaller than the one it replaces, and overloaded runs go from one in a hundred to one in twenty. And that's just the first year... the Salish Orca is supposedly destined for this route for many years to come. Maybe they'll sort out the problems with the exhaust leaks and the overheating galley, but they won't sort out the capacity problem. It was idiotic to build vessels that cut capacity, in order to look prudent with capital costs. I suspect that the Salish class vessels are going to be an example of the foolishness of bottom line spending that excludes any vision for future needs, and sleight of hand nonsense in regard to AEQ standards isn't going to fool anyone.
|
|
|
Post by WettCoast on Aug 18, 2017 21:33:15 GMT -8
Well, gee, who would have thought? They build a ferry smaller than the one it replaces, and overloaded runs go from one in a hundred to one in twenty. And that's just the first year... the Salish Orca is supposedly destined for this route for many years to come. Maybe they'll sort out the problems with the exhaust leaks and the overheating galley, but they won't sort out the capacity problem. It was idiotic to build vessels that cut capacity, in order to look prudent with capital costs. I suspect that the Salish class vessels are going to be an example of the foolishness of bottom line spending that excludes any vision for future needs, and sleight of hand nonsense in regard to AEQ standards isn't going to fool anyone. You nailed it, Neil. The only solution is to add a fifth round trip at busy times which is doable.
|
|