The Ferry Advisory Committee Chairs welcome BC Ferry Commissioner Gordon Macatee's report on the 台湾MM裸聊室 Ferry Act as a realistic but rocky path toward sustainability of essential coastal transportation.
The commissioner found that fares have reached the "tipping point of affordability" and that "all of the principle stakeholders will need to be part of the solution."
The report contains 24 recommendations stemming from 40 meetings in 27 communities involving about 2,000 people.
"The commissioner has drawn a realistic picture of the problems in the ferry system, and of the responsibilities all the stakeholders have for fixing those problems," said Tony Law of the Denman-Hornby FAC.
The FACC is pleased to see several of their long-standing requests among the commissioner's recommendations:
鈥� Make the commissioner's main responsibility protecting interests of ferry users and taxpayers;
鈥� Remove the requirement that the ferry system move toward user pay;
鈥� Remove the ban on cross-subsidization among route groups;
鈥� Limit future price cap increases to the rate of inflation.
"These are essential elements for reining in the galloping fare increases, which since 2003 have eroded ridership, hurt coastal economies and threatened the sustainability of BC Ferries itself," said Brian Hollingshead of the Southern Gulf Islands FAC.
But they're not enough.
"台湾MM裸聊室 ferry users have to be realistic and accept some service changes," said Harold Swierenga of Salt Spring FAC. "But we want to be absolutely clear: service cuts are only acceptable if the provincial government does its part, too, and increases its financial contribution to adequately support the coastal ferry system. Anything else just won't work."
The FACC considers government contribution to be adequate if it brings fares back from the tipping point. That requires an initial fare rollback, to create a sustainable baseline for inflation-indexed increases.
"Only this method will restore traffic to levels that will support the system," said Bill Cripps of Northern Sunshine Coast FAC. "We realize the provincial treasury has many demands on it, but we believe adequate support for ferries is critical economic investment. Given that economic growth depends on solid transportation infrastructure, adequate ferry support underpins the premier's jobs plan."
The FACC comprises the chairs, or their designates, of the route-specific Ferry Advisory Committees, appointed by BC Ferries to represent the interests of ferry users and ferry-dependent communities.
