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Post by Retrovision on Aug 12, 2006 11:17:55 GMT -8
BC Ferries may cut a couple of sailings Aug, 12 2006 - 3:20 AM
VANCOUVER/CKNW(980) - In an effort to save some money, BC Frries is looking to cancel some money-losing sailings.
BC Ferries is considering applying to the Ministry of Transportation to cancel the last two Saturday sailings on the Tsawwassen-Duke Point run during the off-season. Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall says the sailings are usually only 10 to 20% full.
But Louise Yako with the BC Trucking Association says there's no word yet on how the changes would affect the industry.
We're consulting with our membership to make sure that there are no negative impacts, she says.
Yako wants BC Ferries to eliminate a surcharge for trucks using the Horseshoe Bay route instead, and to increase the amount of space reserved for trucks on other sailings.
Copyright © 2006 AM980 CKNW
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Post by Curtis on Aug 12, 2006 13:24:20 GMT -8
Good or bad? Who knows that's the last sailing to Nanaimo that day. That really shouldn't affect anything in the off season. Probably save money.
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Post by Splash on Aug 12, 2006 15:53:56 GMT -8
It's not just the last sailing, it's the last TWO sailings. So the last ferry to Nanaimo/Tsawwassen would be at 5:45pm...Pretty stupid.
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Post by Political Incorrectness on Aug 12, 2006 17:21:55 GMT -8
Why not cut out the 5:15 a.m. and the 10:45 p.m. sailings? That would make more sense to me and that is somewhat stupid.
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Post by Splash on Aug 12, 2006 17:24:18 GMT -8
You mean the 5:15 and the 7:45? Yes, that to me would make more sense.
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Koastal Karl
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Post by Koastal Karl on Aug 12, 2006 17:58:50 GMT -8
no they should cut the 5:15am and 10:45pm sailings if they are gonna cut any sailings. That would be better than the first two or last two sailings of the day.
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Post by Curtis on Aug 12, 2006 18:25:22 GMT -8
If any sailing is involved it's definatly the 5:15 and 10:45 since they are the earliest and latest sailings in the BC Ferries System
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Post by WK on Aug 12, 2006 18:30:48 GMT -8
Because the 0515 is busy and the others are not, sometimes the wild speculation and the anti ferry sentiment shown on this site is ridculous.
WK
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Koastal Karl
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Post by Koastal Karl on Aug 12, 2006 18:51:17 GMT -8
I wouldent think the 5:15am would be that busy being so early in the morning. Well besides all the truckers.
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Ferryman
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Post by Ferryman on Aug 12, 2006 21:18:37 GMT -8
The 5:15am sailings are the truckers sailings. I've taken the Alberni many times on that sailing, and there's nothing but a good load of Semi's on the lower car deck, and they don't even bother to use the upper car deck.
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Post by Political Incorrectness on Aug 12, 2006 21:25:31 GMT -8
Then that route needs some newer ships that can accomadate trucks on the upper car deck and have berths that can support the extra weight.
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Ferryman
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Post by Ferryman on Aug 12, 2006 21:35:36 GMT -8
Are you kidding me? That would be a huge disaster waiting to happen.
"Brand New BC Ferry that can accomadate Overheight vehicles, (ie: Semi Trucks, RVs) on the upper car deck, capsizes off Entrance Island, East of Nanaimo B.C......"
No thank-you. The Semi's and RVs are down there for a reason....To keep the ship balanced, especially when there's a heavy load....
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Koastal Karl
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Post by Koastal Karl on Aug 12, 2006 21:43:51 GMT -8
Yeah that's true! Cutting sailings in the winter. How about adding a 3rd ship during the summer while there are two sailing waits where people have to wait over 5 hours. I am sure people would rather have another ship during the summer at peak times than having to wait all day through 2 sailing waits.
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Post by Political Incorrectness on Aug 12, 2006 23:55:30 GMT -8
Well then if you are complaining about overheight room then you may not want to or the solution can come up . Do you guys know why they do not get extra vessels to serve the routes? It is cheaper to pay crew OT than to operate another ship, BCF works for the money, not towards the advantage of the traveler in the degree of conveniece.
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Post by hergfest on Aug 13, 2006 0:36:00 GMT -8
They are getting new ships. But Route 30's traffic doesn't justify another boat. You can look at the numbers from the annual report. They can't justify building a new boat for a few summer overloads. And I can't even begin to explain how bad an idea it would be to make a double decker truck boat. Splitting the 10:45pm/5:15am sailing wouldn't work cause the ships would end up in the wrong port. The Alberni's crew is based on Vancouver Island and wouldn't like being at Twa at the end of the night. And BCF already cuts the 5:15am and 7:45am sailings on the non-summer schedule on Sunday mornings only. So cutting a round trip on Saturday nights wouldn't be that bad. If you gotta to go Nanaimo on Saturday nights, take Route 2. It isn't that far up there.
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Post by Retrovision on Aug 13, 2006 1:56:14 GMT -8
Speaking of ships around BC's southern coast carying 2 levels of commercial vehicles at once: it does happen (as I only recently found out). Although in this case there are no decks, or even superstructure, above, and no 'tractor' portions of the tractor-trailer sets are carried. I'm talking, of course, about WMG - Seaspan Intermodal's ' drop-trailer' service, while using the Seaspan Doris when traffic demands it. Shown Leaving NanaimoShown Transiting Active Pass (during the off-season)
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Post by Curtis on Aug 13, 2006 7:58:10 GMT -8
Then that route needs some newer ships that can accomadate trucks on the upper car deck and have berths that can support the extra weight. Are you kidding me? That would be a huge disaster waiting to happen. "Brand New BC Ferry that can accomadate Overheight vehicles, (ie: Semi Trucks, RVs) on the upper car deck, capsizes off Entrance Island, East of Nanaimo B.C......" No thank-you. The Semi's and RVs are down there for a reason....To keep the ship balanced, especially when there's a heavy load.... It truly is possible all you need is to give it this humongous hull though. You never know what will happen next
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Koastal Karl
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Post by Koastal Karl on Aug 13, 2006 8:33:20 GMT -8
Hergfest, how do you figure the ships will at the wrong ports??? You cut the 5:15am sailing and the Alberni starts from Duke Point at 7:45am, is the 10:15am out of TSA, 12:45 from Duke Point, 3:15 from TSA, 5:45 from Duke Point and 8:15pm from TSA putting the Alberni back at Duke Point. Only difference now with those sailings is the are run by the New West. And that would be vise versa for the New West.
I dont mean build a new ship use an extra, if we had one to run during peak times only when there are like 2 sailing waits. As two sailing waits on route 30 are like 5 hours which is rediculas.
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Post by Political Incorrectness on Aug 13, 2006 17:00:47 GMT -8
If you cancel one round trip, you got a problem, if you cancel two, it works out. If the money was there, I would have had a good 5 Super Cs built w/ two of them meant for running with extra trucks at 24 knots service speed without burning extra fuel.
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Post by hergfest on Aug 13, 2006 22:12:37 GMT -8
I don't think you got what I was trying to say. If you cut the last sailing on Saturday, the 10:45pm, and the first on Sunday, 5:15am, the Alberni would end up at TWA at 10:15pm and wouldn't go back to Duke Point. Then the next sailing wouldn't be until 7:45am from Twa to Duke Point on Sunday, meaning the Vancouver Island based crew of the Alberni would be stuck at Twa from 10:15pm to 7:45am, and wouldn't arrive back to Vancouver Island until 9:45am. It won't work. You have to have a complete round trip, which means the last two sailings on Saturday and the first two sailings on Sunday.
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Post by Political Incorrectness on Aug 13, 2006 22:14:52 GMT -8
7:45 DK 10:15 TSA 12:45 DK 3:15 TSA 5:45 DK 8:15 TSA
Really, if the Alberni was running out of Duke Point wouldnt it look like this?
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Koastal Karl
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Post by Koastal Karl on Aug 13, 2006 22:17:17 GMT -8
Yeah that is what I was saying. And vise versa for the New West.
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Post by hergfest on Aug 14, 2006 0:29:21 GMT -8
I see what your saying now. BUT, they need the first sailing of the day on Saturdays, and the last sailing on Sundays because they are busy. So it still wouldn't work.
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Ferryman
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Post by Ferryman on Aug 14, 2006 4:15:55 GMT -8
BC Ferries is considering applying to the Ministry of Transportation to cancel the last two Saturday sailings on the Tsawwassen-Duke Point run during the off-season. Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall says the sailings are usually only 10 to 20% full. Ummm....what are you guys talking about...? They're wanting to cancel the last two sailings (roundtrips) from either end. Meaning the last sailing would be at 5:45pm, and both ships would end up back at their home ports. Then the next sailing wouldn't be until 10:15am the next day. Plus it's not like this is happening during the summer, so it really shouldn't be a problem, if they advertise it right. Cough-->Route 30 is and has always been an extra Route<--Cough
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Post by NMcKay on Aug 14, 2006 9:27:26 GMT -8
they talked about wanting the fuel surcharge cut on HSB, but i think the best way is for them to cut the cost / fuel surcharge on the TS - DK point run, in an effort to get more trucks on that route, it was always meant to be a truck route.
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