With the long weekend approaching, thereB次元官网网址檚 one thing Saanich residents can be sure of: getting on or off the Island is bound to be a nightmare. And itB次元官网网址檚 time for BC Ferries to plug the leaks in its .
Vancouver Island residents can be sure on a long weekend they will either have to pay extra for a reservation to ensure they make it onto the ferry, or arrive at the ferry terminal hours ahead of time in order to drive onto a vessel.
This applies in both directions, but more often for those con the mainland and trying to travel onto the Island. If you work off-Island and want to come home for the weekend, youB次元官网网址檙e practically held hostage: a reservation is your only guarantee.
Try finding a number for how many reservations there are per sailing, and youB次元官网网址檒l be disappointed. ThereB次元官网网址檚 no set number. But the BC FerriesB次元官网网址� website indicates that evening sailings can already be almost fully booked by first thing in the morning.
The reservation system as it stands is little more than a cash grab: for a standard vehicle, reservations range from $10 for an early booking (more than seven days) to $21 for same-day reservations.
But even that is no guarantee, as weekend reservations can often be fully booked by the Friday morning. Travellers are left to endure a two- or three-sailing wait to come to the Island on some routes B次元官网网址� and you can forget it if you wanted to hit the Gulf Islands for a spur-of-the-moment visit.
At what point does this become , who would rather avoid coming to the Island entirely than being stuck waiting in their vehicles for hours?
Airlines have fully booked flights, trains have fully booked routes around the country. such as the Clipper that are reservation only, and ferries on the east coast of Canada operate that way too.
Perhaps if BC Ferries went to a booking system only for the main routes to and from Vancouver Island, they would be better able to control their finances B次元官网网址� and customersB次元官网网址� frustrations might not soar so high.
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