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Post by Political Incorrectness on Jul 30, 2003 10:47:46 GMT -8
What would you do if you had control over WSF?
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Post by ferryfreak on Oct 28, 2003 7:00:38 GMT -8
i would disign the ferries like the ones in bc so they could operate better in rough seas
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Post by dfmnsdfijngfjik on Jan 26, 2004 17:12:08 GMT -8
id get all the ships and crash em strate into seattle
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Post by clay on Mar 23, 2005 3:03:12 GMT -8
I'd take huge amounts of L.S.D and mescaline, grab a 40 of Wild Turkey, hijack a WSF, and drive it right into the Queen of Chilliwack, hopefully sinking both.  |
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Post by NMcKay on Mar 23, 2005 10:54:46 GMT -8
id grab the 4 of you, lash you to the front of a barge, and tell the Celebration of light to go nuts.
With the WSF, i think that they are doing a bang up job as is, they dont seem to be running a deficit, and thier routes seem to be in demand. so i dont see a problem with them.
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Post by cascade on Mar 23, 2005 12:39:36 GMT -8
It appears that some of these "guess" are a bunch of w...... (Theres ladies on this board so I will be PC)
WSF is going OK - have much better financial figures than BCF - so they must be doing something right.
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Post by NMcKay on Mar 23, 2005 13:59:21 GMT -8
they did it right from the beginning, and thats where BCF did the wrong theng. they bought different vessels, and made the berths fit etc etc. if they had done for the Fast Cats, as they did for the Spirits, we wouldn't have this problem.
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Koastal Karl
Voyager 
Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
Posts: 7,747
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Post by Koastal Karl on Mar 23, 2005 17:15:50 GMT -8
Dont mock WSF, there is nothing wrong with WSF and the Queen of Chilliwack.
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Post by Balfour on Mar 29, 2005 22:33:51 GMT -8
WSF is still government run, so WSDOT is obviously running things right and not building Pacificat like ferries. They are simply building their classic double enders that look our C class. I wonder if the pacificats hadn't been built, is it possible that BCF would still be Government run?
I think that the FCF pissed off the Board of Directors for BCF and that made them want to not be government, and so old Gordo with his belief in Free Enterprise decided to listen to the BCF Board of directors and privatized BCF.
I think that BCF is better run as a private company, and WSF as government run
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Post by cascade on Mar 30, 2005 5:43:35 GMT -8
An interesting side - if you look at say the last 10 years of accounts for BCFS - they are crap - with "what" they don't say - show. In regards to WSF they appear over the same time period to be very open and clear.
As much as I hate to agreed with David Hahn - he has made a difference and the last set of accounts are open and more transparent. I would like to see a P&L for each vessel in the fleet - then an operational P&L for each route and finaly a P&L for the HQ staff.
Now if WSF can do this - why not BCFS ?
Last month I beleive WSF sacked - fired one of there senior people - so they are open - commericaly minded - you screw up - you get fired - and very quickly it appears also.
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Post by Dane on Apr 3, 2005 19:13:44 GMT -8
The Liberals would have privatized it regardless of the FastCats. Look at BC Rail. It had huge debt but did bring in an operation profit.
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Post by cascade on Apr 4, 2005 7:40:15 GMT -8
The world is changing - and if your not with it - then you tend to be left behind.
I also - unfortunately - think that the days of government "full" ownership is not the way to go. Yes there are KEY services that the Government MUST control - but some services can be sold off - with the government retaining the "Golden" share ie 51%.
It will be very interesting to see how long WSF stays within "pure" govenmental control.
It would make an very attractive offering once - 2009 - when the major vessels have been brought on line. Then the governement could get a decent price for part ownership - reduce taxes to the project - therby directing the tax income to other services ect...
A major player could in theory - come in and take say 40% of BCFS and also say 40% of WSF - think of the cost saving and inter-change ticket sales - travel. Major savings on shipyard - maint'ce.
With the CAN $ cheaper than the US$ most of the work would come North - to BC.
Worth a thought maybe....
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Post by SS San Mateo on Apr 5, 2005 11:46:56 GMT -8
WSF has had their screwups as well.
Issaquah Class ferries: They were nothing but trouble for awhile. Besides crashing into ferry docks, they had a habit of pulling out while loading/unloading. Problems were bad enough that they were pulled from service twice and the last boat sat in Lake Union for about a year because WSF wouldn't accept it. The shipyard (which has been out of business for at least 15 years) that built them didn't have any experience building boats that large.
Rhododendron renovation: Was supposed to cost $8.8 million, but ended up costing $17 million. WSF seriously underestimated how much work was needed. The superstructure was completely replaced because it was in such bad shape. It was supposed to return to service in mid-1991, but ended up going back into service in mid-1992 because of problems with the propulsion system (the engines kept stalling during sea trials because they were too powerful for the propellers). She was supposed to be retired in the early 80's, but WSF kept her (she was placed in mothballs in the mid-80's).
#1 slip overhead loading at Coleman Dock: Completed in the late 1990's and went unused for several years due to problems with the hydraulic system used to raise and lift the ramp as well as problems with the gangplank (one newspaper article mentioned the gangplank was literally twisting itself to pieces). Was eventually put into operation in either 2001 or 2002.
-- LB
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Post by Political Incorrectness on Apr 5, 2005 13:59:42 GMT -8
Well the Rody is an old one like the Spuer Class and that is why there is a lot of money spent on renovations.
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Post by cascade on Apr 6, 2005 9:50:26 GMT -8
You will find that most governments world wide have had some sort of screw up in runing something - major public service ect.. Some local governments can run thing better - some not so well.
I think it is down to the people who are in the senior - middle management level and how good they are at there job's.
Political parties change all the time over years - so it really is down to the management team - in the case of BCFS - most of the management team was very weak - and not able to take control when needed - as they were over ruled by the political pay masters - and in certain situations - you would say "what the Hell" I want my job - vs over risking a fall out with the guy who signs my pay cheque.
When one person or a small becomes weak - then the rest of the company sort of falls into place - over a number of years.
So screw up in both buiness - BCFS and WSF - but I think so far to date BCF had done the bigger screw up - cost wise that is.
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