Torpedo Away!

A big event in the past week was the open house held here on D.I. by BC Ferries to gather input about replacing the current ship with a cable ferry. That is, a barge tied to either end of Baynes Sound that could carry the same amount of vehicle traffic for a reduced cost. The open house has been anticipated for several weeks, since the company announced its feasibility process was under way. The issue has been discussed amongst islanders since well before it hit the papers, especially those of us on the ferry crew. Naturally, I fear for my new job should this plan actually go ahead. It's likely BCF would subcontract a private firm to operate the route, which would mean non-union staff with lower wages. That's been the whole stated point of looking at this idea -- BCF wants to save money on fuel and wages. Our route is a big money loser, as are all the minor routes. I understand both sides of this discussion, but since it directly affects my family's income as well as the service linking our community to the rest of the world, I am dead set against the cable ferry.

It was a well attended mid-afternoon session with people on both sides of the fence. Many more folks seemed leery of the idea, but that could be because the undecideds were more prone to listen rather than to ask questions -- that's always the way at these civic sessions. I'd put the crowd numbers at about 200. It would have been higher had it been scheduled after business hours, when the commuters are actually on the island. We've been assured there will be at least one more session in the evening.

There were plenty of intriguing questions from the audience, many of them met with "we're not sure" / "it's under study" / "we have no hard numbers yet" type answers from the ferries brass. They were able to cite examples of other cable ferries that exist elsewhere with little to no trouble, including a pretty convincing one in Nova Scotia in strong currents. The distance in question has not been attempted before, which makes some people nervous about being somewhat of a testing ground.

Opinion seems split on whether the company actually wants to do this, or if they're simply fulfilling an obligation to look for cost-cutting measures demanded by the BC Government via the Ferries Commissioner (the whole P-3 process is also about that mandate from above, like they're doing with hospital building around the province). They've found it's technically possible to do a cable link, so all that remains is whether it makes business sense. It would take millions to re-align the terminals on both sides into a straight line, and there are some engineering concerns with that -- all under review. Other areas being questioned are crewing levels as it relates to safety/firefighting capacity, the whole private operator aspect, the possibility of building a new dock along with a new ferry landing, service reliability, They may take public opinion into account, or maybe not. The first torpedo aimed at my new career is in the water, and it's unsettling to say the least!

Someone kindly taped the whole Q&A session, and I'm sure they won't mind me repeating the link here, in case you're interested.