BC Ferries

[sebberry]

Originally Posted by Bob Fugger

Apparently, calling someone a retard is neither offensive nor a personal attack - or there'd be a post from a mod condemning it, yeah?

Maybe the mods are Christmas shopping. Or in a ferry line.

[Lorenzo]

This ferry situation really ticks me off, on so many levels. Firstly that it happened at all, but such is life. As a previous poster said, there is more to this I'm sure. Secondly, how can they just arrogantly proclaim that a terminal will be shut for months, and to just get over it.

This is THEIR screw up. They should be on 24 hour service at Departure Bay IMMEDIATELY to compensate for this mess.

Another thing. I am tired of hearing the same old glib sh*t from the talking head Marshall. "Twelve hard landings a year isn't so bad considering we do 185,000 landings." What a stupid statement. I liked the term "torpedo" as used earlier. The only thing that separated the previous "hard landings" from total disaster is the speed of the boat. It could have been very, very different!

I want to hear about this fiasco from the new CEO directly.

[Mike K.]

I was in Horseshoe Bay just after a BCF "torpedoed" into the marina back in 2005. The scene was chaotic and luckily the loss of control did not lead to a terrible tragedy.

This most recent "12 hard landings" excuse BCF gave is nonsense. How many "hard landings" resulting in damage to airport runways or facilities and/or aircraft are caused by Air Canada every year?

[Holden West]

Originally Posted by sebberry

BCF says that a hinge for the door was damaged and a replacement needs to be ordered from Europe with a lead time of three weeks.

Why can't it be fabricated here?

A tradesman who works around the dockyard told me that yes, it could easily be made on site in a day or so. However, any such repairs must be done through the manufacturer, presumably for safety/legal/contractual reasons. He likened the fabrication facilities to the one portrayed on "Orange County Choppers", with state-of-the-art metal fabricating machines.

[North Shore]

Another interesting thing, coming from the Gazetteer, mentions that this problem is/was well-known, dating back to 2007..

http://pacificgazette.blogspot.com/2...paragraph.html

[Bernard]

Originally Posted by Mike K.

I was in Horseshoe Bay just after a BCF "torpedoed" into the marina back in 2005. The scene was chaotic and luckily the loss of control did not lead to a terrible tragedy.

This most recent "12 hard landings" excuse BCF gave is nonsense. How many "hard landings" resulting in damage to airport runways or facilities and/or aircraft are caused by Air Canada every year?

The airplane equivalent would be near misses, of which there are many each year. There are also planes that make hard landings, but the damage is to the plane

[Mike K.]

Yes, but how many are near-misses and how many hard landings resulting in damage are experienced, each year, by Air Canada, and how does that compare to the ratio of such incidents at BCF?

[sebberry]

It makes you wonder - are the safety standards lower because the potential for death an injury is lower when a ferry crashes than when a plane crashes?

Or does the combination of marine factors (accelerated corrosion and the equivalent of a floating runway) simply equate to a greater likelihood of collision?

I agree that in practice ferries shouldn't crash into the docks but before I say that no number of collisions is acceptable I'd like to know why they're happening in the first place.

[Mike K.]

Interestingly enough today on the APTN channel there was a documentary about the first nations coastal communities still affected by oil and chemicals seeping out of the sunken Queen of the North.

We have a ferry system that killed two passengers when its fifth largest vessel sank, it's largest vessels have crashed into docks multiple times, and fares continue to increase well ahead of inflation while ridership is hitting multi-decade lows. All this in the last decade alone. Meanwhile employees are voicing frustration over their jobs and company management.

Make of all of this what you will.

[sebberry]

Is ridership down due to fares or are the fares going up due to less ridership?

[Mike K.]

Ridership began to decline after fares started to rise. Ex-CEO Hahn admitted as such on the eve of his retirement.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by sebberry

Is ridership down due to fares or are the fares going up due to less ridership?

I would say yes.

They got the idea from how we conserve water, and then the rates go up to cover the lost revenue.

[sebberry]

I wish BCF would ask drivers and foot passengers a simple "Business, pleasure or both" question when they got to the terminal.

It would have made it a lot easier to track where the reductions are occurring.

Without going all Sherlock Holmes on the corporation's books, it's hard to say where the extra revenue is going.

The provincial government didn't exactly leave BCF in good standing when they handed it over to Hahn. Boats were old, terminals were crappy, overall service wasn't as good, the list goes on. If the provincial government bought new boats and refreshed the terminals we'd still be paying more.

[Mike K.]

A "fan" group for BC Ferries on Twitter is good for a laugh. Their Twitter page is at https://twitter.com/#!/BCFerrys

Some excerpts:

- 3D glasses now for sale in our Gift Shops. Now you can watch the BC coast go by in 3D!

- Remember, tomorrow is random scramble tour day. Have fun all day as we really mix things up! You could end up at any terminal. Bring food.

- Have you tried our halal hollandaise half halibut hamburger w/humous?

- Swartz- Tsawwassen wifi down. We'll be slowing down all day through Active Pass so you can try to borrow signals from Mayne or Galiano.

[sebberry]

That's a good find!

[Bernard]

I went to follow and found out Twitter has changed their look, again. Why can social media sites not keep things as they are? If it were not for all the people I know being on Facebook and reading stuff there, I would quit that site because they change and change again.

Yes, totally off topic

[Bingo]

I wonder if BC Ferries have considered installing passenger seat belts on their lounge chairs?

[G-Man]

^ Serious or joke?

[G-Man]

FYI merged the two threads thanks for pointing that out Bingo. Weirdness.

[Mr_E_Squirrel]

What is up with the Ferry at dock yard, every time I go by there is exhaust coming out of the smoke stacks. Are they burning fuel 24/7 to generate electricity for the boat being repaired? Do they not have the ability to run electricity to the ship as it undergoes repairs?

[Bingo]

So now the Commissioner says that BC Ferries can save millions by converting its diesel-powered ships to natural gas. To bad they didn't do that when they spent a few billion on the new vessels that were built in 2007-8.

[Mike K.]

...while natural gas is cheap.

[sebberry]

One other suggestion is that the fares be tied to the cost of inflation.

I can see that covering operating costs if the operating costs rose at the rate of inflation, but how does that cover the costs of new boats, terminal repairs and improvements, etc..?

[Coreyburger]

Originally Posted by Mr_E_Squirrel

What is up with the Ferry at dock yard, every time I go by there is exhaust coming out of the smoke stacks. Are they burning fuel 24/7 to generate electricity for the boat being repaired? Do they not have the ability to run electricity to the ship as it undergoes repairs?

Big engines are usually left running if they are to be used at all. That being said, I doubt that ferries have ground-power connections.

[Dylan Leblanc]

So much for...