BC Ferries to cut fuel surcharge in half

The president of BC Ferries hopes to cut the fuel surcharge in half in the next couple of weeks, as oil prices drop to the lowest levels in nearly a year.

However,the B.C. NDP's transportation critic Maureen Karagianis said the corporation should follow the lead of companies like WestJet and remove the entire fuel surcharge immediately now that crude oil has fallen below $70 a barrel.

Currentlya single person ina car pays a fuel surcharge of $5.40 on the main routes between Vancouver Island and the Mainland, on top of the regular $56 fare.

BC Ferries president David Hahn said the company delayed bringing in the unpopular fuel surcharge eight months after fuel prices started rising last November because they did not expect prices to stay high for so long.

The company implemented the fuel surcharges on Aug. 1 after the price of crude oil hit $147 a barrel in July.

Now the company still needs to recoup its losses before the entire fuel surcharge can be removed, Hahn told CBC Radio on Friday morning.

"We're acting as fast as we can, but we were awful slow getting in, so in fact, and I don't like using these words, the public had a free ride," said Hahn.

All changes in ferry prices must be approved by the independent B.C. Ferry Commissioner and BC Ferries is not allowed to generate a profit from fuel surcharges.

Hahn said he would like to see the rules changed so that ferry fares and fuel surcharges are revaluated monthly rather than quarterly, so the company can respond more immediately to changes in the price of fuel.

He also suggested the rules should be changed to allow the company to drop fuel surcharges when oil prices decline, without the approval of the commission.