Victoria’s inner harbour is set to have two new tenants in the historic Steamship Terminal building.
One of them is Riverside Marine, which plans to run two passenger ferries between the Steamship Terminal and the Vancouver Convention Centre.
“We think that this is a niche that needs to be filled,” said Riverside Marine’s Hume Campbell.
There have been previous attempts to implement a ferry service linking the two downtowns, all of which failed. But with tourism on the rise and the Canadian dollar in free fall, the time could be right.
WATCH: Potential problems with Victoria-Vancouver passenger ferry plan
“I think what’s really important to remember is that the Victoria to Vancouver harbour service was last tried in the early 90s,” said Paul Nursey of Tourism Victoria. “Really it’s up to them to take the risk and do their own due diligence on the opportunity.”
The new ferries–which will have capacity for 300 passengers and run seven days a week–won’t be the fastest option to get between the two city centres. A three-hour ferry ride will cost $80 while a 30-minute flight on Harbour Air costs $205.
But having the choice between the two is what Riverside Marine hopes to capitalize on.
“Some of those people want to have a comfortable ride and get there very easily and quickly from downtown to downtown,” said Campbell.
They plan to have the vessels up and running by spring of 2016.
-With files from Kylie Stanton
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