Typical traffic congestion held up holiday travellers on B.C. Ferries Tuesday, but there were no signs of an expected increase in the number of commercial vehicles heading through Swartz Bay.
Passengers aiming for the 11 a.m. vessel out of Swartz Bay had a single sailing wait and reports of similar delays were coming out of Departure Bay in Nanaimo. By afternoon, there were two- and three-sailing waits between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay.
Those waits are close to common for this time of year, according to a B.C. Ferries spokesman, who said the traffic might be slightly higher than normal. The corporation added two vessels and about eight sailings for each of the main terminals connecting Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.
Commercial vehicle traffic, however, was low compared to expectations that it would increase because of a shutdown at the Duke Point terminal, which is closed for repairs after a Super-C class ferry crashed into the berth last week.
B.C. Ferries offered a 50 per cent fare discount between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay to divert over-sized vehicle traffic from Departure Bay in the absence of the Duke Point route.
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The sale on fares applied on Tuesday and on Jan. 3. Tuesday was expected to be one of the peak days, according to B.C. Ferries.
“You just never know what people will do from year to year,” said spokesman Darin Guenette.
Rick Phillips said going to Departure Bay rather than Duke Point shaves about half an hour off his regular trip back from the Mainland.
He was sailing from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen Tuesday morning for his regular Penguin Meats run. Normally, he would take a ferry back from the Tsawwassen terminal to Duke Point, but traffic on that run has been redirected to Departure Bay.
“I think it’s great. I’d rather have to go to Departure Bay,” he said from the cab of his truck. “It saves me time and it saves me money.”
Sailing to Departure Bay also saves him about $10 in fuel, he explained.
B.C. Ferries numbers show commercial traffic on Dec. 27 to be the lowest of the last four days of the year in 2010. Transport truck numbers went from 72 on Dec. 27 to 127 on Dec. 28 between Tsawwassen and Duke Point. The number rose again to 168 the following day and dropped slightly to 163 on New Year’s Eve.
Transport traffic follows the same pattern between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay, going from 79 on Dec. 27 to 134 on Dec. 28. Numbers continue to climb to 143 on Dec. 29 and to 158 on New Year’s Eve.
B.C. Ferries commercial services staff reviewed several years of data when they came up with the dates they would offer a reduced rate, Guenette said.
Holiday travellers were taking the lineups in stride.
Lea Campo was one of the passengers who missed the 11 a.m. sailing because the ferry was full.
“We made a reservation last year and made it with no trouble, so this year we didn’t bother. I guess we should have,” she said.
By mid-afternoon, traffic for the Swartz Bay ferry to Tsawwassen was backed up past the Wain Road interchange as sailing waits stretched to three.
In Nanaimo on Monday, traffic was backed up for two sailings with an afternoon vessel behind schedule. Reservations on most sailings had sold out before the ferries started sailing. Most of the traffic had returned to normal by 3 p.m.
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