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Nanaimo Daily News : September 04, 2010Fears are being raised of increased ferry rates and the possibility of service cuts as B.C. Ferries
and the provincial government begin their latest round of contract talks. The
government and the B.C. Ferry Corporation hold contract talks every four years in which the province decides on the level
of service it wants to see provided, including the number of sailings per route, and how much the province will pay for it.
Members of the 12 ferry advisory committees that represent ferry users in the
province are concerned that while the province has not changed the core service levels of the ferry routes in B.C. since the
beginning of this contract-based system in 2003, it hasn't changed the amount it pays the corporation for the services
either. The only exception is the northern routes, to help with the cost of new vessels and terminal upgrades. FAC member Tony Law said the committees are concerned that if the province doesn't raise its
ferry funding in this review, ferry users could see possible service reductions, or more likely, substantial fare increases
on top of those of the past six years. Deb Marshall, a spokeswoman for B.C.
Ferries, said the contract talks, which could take up to a year to complete, are just beginning so it's far too early
in the process to determine what issues will be raised in the discussions. "Ferries
are the public access to the B.C. coast and they're as important to this large region of the province as any highway or
public transit," said Law, who represents Hornby and Denman islands. "We
need to keep this part of the provincial transportation infrastructure affordable to British Columbians who depend on it,
while also taking taxpayers' interests into account." The FAC is calling
on the government to adjust its funding for the ferries to keep fare caps in line with inflation, as well as a number of other
measures.
Nanaimo Daily News : September 02, 2010Students
will catch buses at a new $595,000 transit exchange at Vancouver Island University when classes begin next week. Officials say the transit exchange includes features that will double capacity, improve safety and
save energy. The $595,000 project was covered by a federal gas tax grant to the Regional District of Nanaimo. The new location on Fourth Street will speed up bus routes to VIU, one of the busiest routes in
the city. It includes environmentally friendly LED lighting inside bus shelters and 21 light fixtures outside that officials
say will reduce energy use by 75%. Buses will switch to the new transit exchange at the Nanaimo campus on Tuesday.
Vancouver Sun : Monday, August 30,
2010VANCOUVER - Transport Canada's decision to ban the media
from attending a float plane safety workshop has been criticized sharply from within the industry. "I feel the press should attend," insisted Joel Eilertsen, the owner of Air Cab, based in Coal Harbour
near Port Hardy. "There's nothing to be concerned about, nothing to hide. "It
creates a suspicious attitude. I think [the news media] should be able to attend. You should be there to hear the comments
from everybody." Transport Canada is inviting 55 float plane
operators from around B.C. to attend a two-day workshop to discuss ways to make the industry safer. Ottawa says the Oct. 6-7 workshop in Vancouver will address issues such as "safety record and trends, safety
culture, customers' expectations, protection of passengers, and egress techniques." The workshop follows the deaths of 22 people in four commercial float plane accidents over the past two years on
the B.C. coast, including six who died in a Seair Seaplanes crash off Saturna Island on Nov. 29. Martin Eley, director-general of civil aviation in Ottawa, confirmed the decision to "limit the workshop to
representatives of the regulator, industry, and safety advocates to facilitate productive regulatory and technical discussions."
It was Eley who shelved improvements in float plane safety in a letter to a superior
in May 2008, saying: "In a subsequent discussion you and I agreed that in the absence of a clear way forward, this file
would be put on hold in deference to other civil aviation priorities. Any further work on this file would need to be evaluated
in the context of our current organization and our current priorities." Among
the more contentious issues expected to be debated is whether Transport Canada should mandate a federal transportation safety
board recommendation that life vests be worn on float-plane flights. Five men
escaped an MJM Air crash off Quadra Island in 2005, only to drown because they weren't wearing life jackets and didn't
grab them from the plane before swimming free. Among other float-plane safety developments,
Saltspring Air on Aug. 18 installed the first emergency pop-out windows on a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver seaplane, making it
easier for passengers to escape in the event of a crash in water. In July, The Vancouver
Sun reported that B.C.'s major float plane companies were not complying with a Transport Canada request that new float-plane
safety brochures provided by Ottawa be distributed to all passengers. On Friday,
The Sun flew aboard a Seair float plane between Richmond and Nanaimo. Seair did have
the Transport Canada pamphlets on a side counter, but not at the check-in counter, where they'd be more obvious. No one
distributed them to passengers or even mentioned they existed, which fell short of Transport Canada's request to industry.
Inside the Seair office in Nanaimo, the Transport Canada pamphlets were positioned
front and centre, at the check-in counter. On the return flight with Harbour Air, there
were no pamphlets at all at the check-in counter or waiting area in Nanaimo. An employee said they were out and expecting
more. The pamphlets were on the front counter of the airline's Richmond office.
Nanaimo Daily News : August 23, 2010John Villeneuve glances at his watch as he sits in one of the new bus shelters at the new Prideaux
Street exchange. Villeneuve said he's happy with the improvements that Nanaimo
Regional Transit has made but that he would like to see more improvements. "I
think that they have done a good job so far but I think more can be done to help the buses run on time," said Villeneuve,
who uses the transit system daily. As he sits on a bench at the new bus shelter, Villeneuve said he'd like to see all
bus stops be as nice as the few bus shelters he uses. "This is great here
and the ones at the college and Country Club as well," he said. Villeneuve
should be happy to learn that Dennis Trudeau, the man who runs the transit system for the Regional District of Nanaimo,
has many more improvements planned and some are designed to make the buses run quicker. The Regional District of Nanaimo recently launched the beginning of a phased expansion by adding an additional 24,5000
hours of service for conventional bus travel by the end of this year and a further 65,900 annual hours of service by 2018.
The initial focus will be on south-end routes, especially those utilized by Vancouver
Island University students and additional routes, buses and hours are on their way for the third-largest system operated by
B.C. Transit. "Our increased ridership conforms to B.C. Transit's plans
for Nanaimo, which wants us to double transit ridership by 2020," said Trudeau. There
are other ways to expand the service, but not all of them are easy to achieve, said Trudeau. The regional transit system hopes
to develop a university pass program that could add at least $1.5 million to the $12-million budget, but student union members
at Vancouver Island University have refused, unless the system is expanded first. Everyone,
not just students, wants better transit service, even Trudeau. It's one
of the reasons the RDN board of directors recently approved a $600,000 partnership with VIU to move the bus exchange from
Fifth Street to Fourth Street. "We will be able to run six buses to the
new exchange as opposed to the four we run now," said Trudeau. However,
Trudeau admits to being frustrated by the lack of a university pass program. The
school's student union refuses to send the issue to a referendum. Trudeau said the RDN offered a $60 per-semester pass,
which is much cheaper than the $158.50 students pay for a semester pass. "There
is a bit of disappointment with VIU," he said. "We're the only university in B.C. without a U-pass and I don't
understand it." Nanaimo has the third-largest system operated by B.C. Transit.
Victoria clocks the most hours at about 700,000, followed by Kelowna at 170,000 hours. As part of its plans to double ridership, regional transit , will expand its fleet of regular buses from 42 to 85.
The system operates about 100,000 hours in a year, a figure that is expected to jump to 200,000. The goal is to eliminate
the need for two- or three-car families. Already, the RDN has expanded much of
the south-end service, primarily the No. 5 and No. 6 routes that service Fairview
and Harewood neighbourhoods. Doubling the buses on these routes has led to an average of 40 passengers on the bus every hour.
B.C. Transit considers 20-plus passengers a successful run. Besides conventional
buses, the transit system operates a fleet of 16 HandDART vehicles. Transit has added the No. 90 Intercity Connector, which
travels between B.C. Ferries Departure Bay terminal and Qualicum Beach. The buses get people to the ferry terminal as early
as 8 a.m. and has stops throughout Nanaimo and Parksville. Among other changes people can expect from Nanaimo Regional Transit is the addition of London-style
double-decker buses. "This year, we are looking at building a double decker
wash and mechanical bay so that we can do our own mechanical work and body work on the buses, in order to keep the costs down,"
Trudeau said. He said the regional board believes the double deckers will be
another attraction for tourists in the Nanaimo region. Following a slight drop in 2006-07, the number of riders on the Nanaimo Regional Transit system is approaching 2.5
million. Officials at regional transit believe the improvements they are making have lead to an increase in ridership.
Interest
in establishing a foot-ferry service between Nanaimo and Vancouver sparked after the 2010 Winter Olympics but fizzled in the
spring, says Mayor John Ruttan. Two companies were looking at a downtown-to-downtown
service after B.C. Ferries saw a rush of passengers during the Games, said Ruttan. But he hasn't heard from the businesses
since. The HarbourLynx craft, funded by a group of B.C. investors, operated
for more than a year on the Nanaimo-Vancouver route before engine failure and financial troubles brought the service to a
halt in early 2006. Ruttan still thinks a passenger-only ferry service is viable,
but the city will only back a company that has the means and track-record to pull such a feat off. "I'm still guardedly optimistic we're going eventually to get that service started. I kind of thought
that with the economy slowly improving, we would get stronger and stronger interest," said Ruttan. The mayor said he was "hesitant" to look at a subsidy for such an operation because of
potential legal issues and concerns that the operator could become reliant on the taxpayer's dime to survive. The city will only support a "proper ferry operator" with a solid business plan and the
proper investment to make the endeavour work, said Ruttan. He also thinks the
operator would need more than one vessel to ensure continued service if break downs occur. "Really we need a reliable service or it's not worth running at all," said Ruttan. But providing a steady service will be one of the biggest challenges for any would-be passenger
ferry operators, said Ihab Shaker, owner of Coastal Link Ferries. Shaker had some discussions with the city last fall, but
said he couldn't come up with the initial investment needed to get a passenger service off the ground. He said the foot-ferry industry is a tough business. His own passenger ferry, which travels between
Bowen Island, Vancouver and others routes, currently isn't running due to "financial reasons." Shaker said it's difficult for a small company to provide a regular schedule similar to
B.C. Ferries. However, he still thinks a Nanaimo-Vancouver foot-ferry route has potential.
Cowichan Valley Citizen : August 20, 2010It's nearly time for back to school and the Cowichan Valley School District's transportation
team have been busy this summer in a total re-vamp of school bus schedules. An
extensive guide will be published in the Aug. 25 edition of the Cowichan Valley Citizen. While everyone from students to bus drivers has been calling for years for improvements in the school bus system
there has been little agreement on how best to achieve that goal. This week,
the district announced that it's made changes saying, "in an effort to keep as many dollars as possible in the classroom,"
that buses will start in September to stay on "better traveled roads." The result? "Students will need to make their way to the bus stop,"
the district says. All bus routes have been changed, the number of bus stop locations
reduced and changes have been made to the pick-up and drop-off times for students. Eligibility
for busing has also been changed, so, to confirm whether or not your child has a seat on the bus, parents are asked to contact
their school starting Monday, Aug. 30. In recent years, trustees and parents
have wrangled over such transportation problems as: fees for busing in general and to schools of choice and the problems that
face children who must walk along or across busy highways and rural roads. Efforts
were made to start the changes last September but it didn't work well. Many
parents were not able to find out which bus their children were to catch and when so the Board of Education decided to make
sure the news got out sooner and more widely this year.
Cowichan Valley Citizen : August 20, 2010Ladysmith's one-vehicle transit system is a hit with users a year after it started.
But it's still a far cry from paying its own way. With Ladysmith marking one year operating a rubber-tired trolley this month, it's been used by more than
2,000 people a month.
The service runs completely on the honour system. But acting mayor Duck Paterson is pleased with the unique transportation system serving residents in the
town on the 49th Parallel. "We're just three weeks shy of a year and we had our
25,000th rider," Paterson said. Donations "aren't racking up as much as
riders are, but it's coming along and it's been well-received." Those donations are averaging $750 a month, or
about $9,000 since the service started. When the service began, the town budgeted $120,000 for annual operating costs. The
trolley had considerable support in the community. Together, businesses, service clubs
and residents raised $206,000, more than enough to pay the $178,000 cost of the trolley. The service has been operating with
$200,000 in federal gas tax money. When it started last year, Mayor
Rob Hutchins predicted it would require a tax increase to keep it running once that money is spent, likely next year.
The bus makes a 40-kilometre, seven-stop circuit through town every 100 minutes. It runs from
8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. The town is looking at other sources to keep its transit system
running, including advertising revenues. Nanaimo Regional Transit also uses ad revenues to shore up costs.
"None of them pay for themselves," Paterson said.
Saltspring Air said Monday it is poised
to make Canadian history with the installation of emergency pop-out windows on a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver seaplane, thereby
making it easier for passengers to escape in the event of a crash in water.
The newly designed pop-out windows will be installed Wednesday at Viking Air, the Sidney-based company that is the "type
certificate holder" for the Beaver aircraft, having acquired the design from Bombardier in 2006. Viking Air had promised to design a pop-out window -- for voluntary installation by seaplane operators, in the absence
of any Transport Canada requirement -- after the Nov. 29 crash of a Richmond-based Seair Seaplanes Beaver in Lyall Harbour
off Saturna Island. Six passengers, including a mother and her infant daughter, perished
after being unable to escape the plane before it sank in 14 metres of water. The pilot and one other passenger survived with
serious injuries. Bill Yearwood, regional manager of the federal transportation safety
board in Richmond, applauded industry's response to that tragedy. "Excellent,
that's good news," he said. "It's nice to see the airlines, the float operators, taking the initiative as
soon as they (pop-out windows) are available." Saltspring Air spokesman
David Davies said the company is proud to be part of "Canada’s first commercial installation of emergency exit
pop-out windows in a float plane...." A total of four company seaplanes will eventually be fitted, he added. Based out of Ganges, Saltspring Air offers scheduled seaplane service to the Gulf Islands, Vancouver
International Airport, Vancouver Harbour, Patricia Bay near Victoria, and Maple Bay on Vancouver Island, as well as scenic
and charter flights.
The Vancouver Sun published a six-part investigative
series on float-plane safety starting May 29 that focussed on the federal government's long-standing failure to implement
float-plane safety suggestions of the transportation safety board. The series, Broken
Wings, also addressed the mandatory use of life jackets, egress training and egress improvements such as pop-out windows,
as well as satellite-based tracking systems that can help search-and-rescue crews pinpoint the site of a crash and thereby
save lives and resources. Just two days into The Sun's series, then-Transport Minister
John Baird said the time for study is over and ordered his staff to immediately undertake a series of initiatives aimed at
improving float plane safety. Those initiatives included: an updated float plane safety
awareness campaign for passengers and commercial operators; strengthening of the investigation and enforcement actions against
operators who are found not to be following existing regulations and standards; undertaking a full review with industry stakeholders, safety advocates, affected communities, and other jurisdictions, of the potential
measures to improve float plane safety, including a full review of aircraft design standards related to float plane issues;
investigating the possibility of implementing improvements in egress from submerged float planes, such as the operation of
emergency exits, pop-out windows, wearing of life vests by passengers and egress training for commercial crews.
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| Victoria Times Colonist |
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| Cowichan Valley Citizen |
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| Nanaimo Daily News |
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| Nanaimo Bulletin |
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| Harbour City Star (Nanaimo) |
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| Oceanside Star (Parksville & Qualicum Beach) |
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| Alberni Valley Times (Port Alberni) |
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| Tofino & Ucluelet Westerly |
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| Comox Valley Echo |
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| Campbell River Courier-Islander |
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| Island Tides (Southern Gulf Islands) |
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| Gabriola Sounder |
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| Flying Shingle (Gabriola) |
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| Gulf Islands Driftwood |
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| Bowen Island Undercurrent |
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