BC Ferries officials said it’s ready for the mass influx of travellers for the upcoming Labour Day long weekend.
In a Tuesday news conference, BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez said despite a major vessel being out of service, he’s confident sailing will be smooth.
More than 520,000 passengers and 200,000 vehicles are expected to use BC Ferries over the long weekend.
“We are ready to go,” Jimenez said. “(But) if you don’t have a reservation, you’ll find it a very challenging experience.”
If you do not have a vehicle reservation, officials strongly urged that you to try and walk on as a foot passenger instead.
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BC Ferries said it has noticed a rise of five to eight per cent of people leaving their vehicles behind and walking onto ferries, comparing the B.C. Day long weekend to earlier long weekends in the summer.
The Coastal Renaissance has been out of service for engine repairs since mid-August, affecting two main routes, and is due to return in mid-October.
“We’ve got traffic control partners in place for four busier terminals. We’ve got parking attendants in place for the busy terminals, and they will be adding extra staff as they did for the August long weekend,” Jimenez said of this upcoming weekend.
But ferry officials have had to cancel 60 sailings this fall, between Horseshoe Bay and Nanaimo, and Horseshoe Bay to Langdale, with the Renaissance out of the run, affecting roughly 800 customers.
About a thousand bookings for this weekend were also impacted by the repairs.
“We’ve worked to devise a solution that impacts the fewest customers possible,” Brain Anderson said, BC Ferries’ strategy and community engagement vice-president.
“I understand from our team that we have sufficient capacity to offer alternative spots for all 800 customers who have bookings on those impacted sailings and are providing as much advance notice as possible to customers who have not yet made travel plans so that they can plan accordingly.”
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