BC Ferries: Ticket prices to rise on all minor routes

B.C. Ferries is cutting its fuel rebate in half, effectively increasing fares on all its 17 minor routes by the end of the month. B.C. Ferries is paying more for fuel, so the corporation will cut its fuel rebate in half, pushing up fares on 17 routes.The fuel rebate, the money you get back on the base price of a ticket, is dropping to five per cent from 10 per cent on average on Jan. 25. “[Passengers] will be getting less of a discount,” said spokeswoman Deborah Marshall.

The reduction in the rebate is due to an increase in fuel costs, Marshall said. The fare increase will affect popular routes from Swartz Bay to the Southern Gulf Islands, including Galiano, Mayne, Pender, Saturna and Fulford Harbour on Saltspring. Currently, the fare for a car and driver travelling between Swartz Bay and the southern Gulf Islands is $40.80, while the rebate is $3.10. The fuel rebate on the Horseshoe Bay-Langdale route remains unchanged at two per cent on average.

Soaring fuel prices prompted B.C. Ferries to impose a fuel surcharge in the summer of 2008. As fuel prices declined, the surcharge was eliminated on major routes in February and rebates were increased to 10 per cent on minor routes in August. The minor routes affected by the rebate reduction are:

Swartz Bay – Southern Gulf Islands (Galiano, Mayne, Pender and Saturna)
Swartz Bay – Fulford Harbour (Saltspring)
Crofton – Vesuvius (Saltspring)
Tsawwassen – Long Harbour (Saltspring)
Earls Cove – Saltery Bay (Northern Sunshine Coast)
Little River – Westview (Powell River) Mill Bay – Brentwood Bay Horseshoe Bay – Snug Cove (Bowen Island)
Westview – Blubber Bay (Texada Island)
Nanaimo – Descanso Bay (Gabriola Island)
Chemainus – Thetis Island – Kuper Island
Buckley Bay – Denman Island
Denman Island – Hornby Island
Campbell River – Quathiaski Cove (Quadra Island)
Heriot Bay – Whaletown (Cortes Island)
Alert Bay – Sointula – Port McNeill
Skidegate – Alliford Bay (Queen Charlotte Islands)


-Times Colonist January 7, 2009-

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