The Office of the BC Ferries Commissioner announced yesterday that a fare cap increase of 2.3 percent will be introduced next year.
The decision means fares will increase up to that 2.3 percent mark every year from April 1st, 2020 to March 31st, 2024.
BC Ferries Commissioner Sheldon Stoilen says “these increases are in the public interest – affordable to ferry users and taxpayers, while sufficient to allow BCFerries to meet their financial targets, barring an extraordinary situation.”
Before making the final cap decision, Stoilen says many things were taking into consideration.
Some of those included amendments to the Coastal Ferry Services Contract, additional input from BC Ferries and the BC Government, comments from the public, and the results of a performance review on BC Ferries’ efficiency and their long-term capital plan.
An in-depth look at the reasons for the price cap increase can be found at the BC Ferries Commissioner’s website here.
The BC Ferries Commissioner Office also says it’s encouraging BC Ferries to establish greenhouse gas reduction targets and to pursue the electrification of the new Island-class ferries which are being introduced next year.
Spokesperson for BC Ferries, Deborah Marshall says the first of those ferries “will be deployed in 2020 on our Powell River-Texada route. The second one will be deployed between Port McNeill, Alert Bay, (and) Sointula.”
