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Opinion: The next provincial government faces defining decisions on BC Ferries' future

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Written for Daily Hive Urbanized by Callum Campbell, who is a naval architect and founder of CIRQL Ferries (formerly known as Greenline Ferries). The private ferry company has plans to launch a new passenger-ferry service linking Downtown Vancouver with Bowen Island and the Sunshine Coast.

There is a one-time-honoured tradition all British Columbians can count on at provincial election time: political candidates making promises about BC Ferries.

It’s not surprising that the ferries are an election issue, because ferries have a significant impact in the lives of many B.C. residents who live, work and do business on the coast. As a resident of Victoria, I know that ferries shape how and where we work, our access to certain types of medical care and other services, and what we do in our leisure time.

Political promises about coastal ferries may look different on the surface, from increased oversight to re-adjusting service levels, to where the next ships should be built, and even how they should handle reservations.

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But in reality, ever since BC Ferries was spun out from a provincial Crown corporation and into a private company wholly owned by the provincial government in 2003, the government has been inherently limited in its control over the ferry system. The system set up at the time was specifically intended to give the company autonomy to shape its own operations with a commercial mindset, free from political interference in exchange for getting the ferry system “off the provincial books.”

The real ferry-related issue that politicians will need to contend with is how they’ll deal with fare increases.

Very quickly after the election, decisions on funding for BC Ferries will need to be made, one way or another. And they’ll have profound consequences for millions of passengers and drivers.

Every four years, the independent BC Ferry Commissioner reviews BC Ferries’ plans and sets maximum fare increases. In the last round, in 2023, a proposed 9.2 per cent annual increase was cut to 3.2 per cent after the provincial government provided a one-time $500 million influx to literally buy lower fares (to put this in perspective, the government’s typical yearly contribution to BC Ferries is about $200 million). The next review is now underway.

The ferry company’s recent submission to the Commissioner makes clear the scale of the challenge — rising diesel, labour, and capital costs.

With mounting pressures, BC Ferries has been warning of fare increases of up to 30 per cent.

The company also says its debt could rise from approximately $2 billion to more than $4 billion over the next four years.

This should be as much a concern to those within the organization as those who rely on it. While we might hope for a different outcome, it is now clearly apparent that it is not possible to stabilize a service, replace an aging fleet, meet growing demand, rebuild the terminals, and electrify the operations, all while operating within the service and financial limits of the services contract. Ongoing dependency on fossil fuels also carries significant financial exposure. Something’s got to give.

The Commissioner’s price cap decision is due in the new year.

So, what is a government to do: invest more of everyone’s taxpayer dollars to keep fare increases reasonable, or put the costs on the backs of users? In either case, this money, no matter who pays, merely goes toward maintaining the status quo service levels. It does nothing to improve how the ferry system works overall.

In the BC Ferries submission, rising costs are framed as a financial problem to be solved through more funding or higher fares. The submission also acknowledges that a more fundamental conversation is needed: what kind of ferry service do we need, and how can we afford to provide it?

Here’s where strong political will and vision are needed. It’s time to make structural changes and embrace a new perspective to make BC Ferries stronger while giving passengers new options for coastal travel.

Last year, after extensive public consultation, BC Ferries released Charting the Course, its long-range vision for the system, which includes passenger-only ferries as part of the solution.

Ferries built for passengers rather than cars cost much less to build, and their routes and timing can be nimbler. Passenger ferries — electric-powered, direct, and efficient — travel between the downtown hubs of coastal communities, and bypass the car ferry terminals altogether.

Adding passenger-only ferry routes to complement the existing car ferries would allow the system to grow and serve people and communities better, creating new jobs while keeping costs in check over the longer term. But it won’t become a reality without collective alignment from the provincial government, First Nations, and coastal communities. No one party has the authority to make big moves on its own.

To be clear, the car ferry system is vital to the province’s economy and will remain the predominant means of travel on the coast for now and in the future. But as growth in ridership increases year over year, it’s evident this needs to be managed not by reflexively expanding the capacity to move cars, but by altering the infrastructure in a smarter way to get people to their destinations.

This election is an ideal opportunity for politicians to demonstrate leadership and foresight on the ferry file. We need to elect a government that understands the needs of coastal communities and recognizes the financial realities facing BC Ferries. The good news is that new, more cost-effective options are available to expand B.C.’s marine transportation network, with passenger-only ferries playing a key role.

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