BC Ferries gets 18 to 37% rate increase

BC Ferriescould be allowed to raise its rates bymore than37 per cent on northern and minor routes andnearly 18 per cent on major routes over afour year period, starting in April 2012.

The price cap, which limits annual increases to 8.23 per cent on northern and minor routes and 4.15 per cent on major routesoverfour years received preliminary approval fromthe B.C. Ferry Commission, which controls fare increases, on Thursday morning.

Those increases would amount to an increase of 17.7 per cent and 37.2 per cent in total over the four years, because of the compounding effects of the annual increases.The public has until June 30 to submit comments on the proposed price cap.

The fare increases on the major routes between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast are roughly in line with projections from BC Ferries, but much less than the annual fare increases of 12 to 14per centon minor routes and up to 26 per cent on northern routes originally sought by BC Ferries.

BC Ferries says it has no choice but to raisefares or decrease services on the remote routes, but the ferry commission has directed it to look for cost saving measures in order to keep them within the price cap.

The news comes the day beforeBC Ferries raises fares by 3.38 per cent on average on the three major routes connecting Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland and 6.71 per cent on average on the remaining routes in accordance with the price provisions set by the BC Ferry Commissioner in September 2007.

That means the cost for a cartraveling one-way from the mainland to either Victoria or Nanaimo will rise to $47.75, while the drivers and eachpassengers will pay $14.25, a hike of 50 cents, on April 1.

Under the proposed price cap the same fares could rise to $56 and $16.77 by 2015.

On minor routes, such as the Nanaimo to Gabriola Island route, the $22.60 vehicle fare, which comes intoeffect April 1, could hit $31 by 2015.

The B.C. Ferry Commission sets a price cap for the BC Ferries routes once every four years.