Articles & Long Notices
General News · 20th November 2007
John Sprungman
What’s in the Cards
When BC Ferries’ “cash cards” replace paper ticket books sometime next year, how will they work?
Rob Clarke, Chief Financial Officer of BC Ferries, will explain the plan when the FAC meets from noon to 3:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30th at the Quadra Island Community Centre.
The card system will significantly change the way we pre-pay fares and how much we have to put up front and will create new options for using those dollars.
Instead of buying a specific number of trips, as we do with the paper tickets, the cards will be linked to an account which will have a cash balance which will be debited when we pay the fares for each trip.
In order to get the “prepaid ticket prices,” a ferry user will have to have a card. This means that most of us will be very interested in the details of how the cards will work. If you can’t attend the FAC meeting, I will do my best to report what we hear in the next issue.
How Did They Get Away With That?
Representatives of almost all of the 12 FACs on the BC coast met last week in Nanaimo with CFO Rob Clarke and Ferry Commissioner Martin Crilly to discuss the November 1 fare increases.
It turns out that BC Ferries does have the option of increasing fares above the price cap for a particular period of time, but if those increases result in revenue that exceeds the price cap, using a complex formula the Commission has created, then fares will have to be rolled back in subsequent periods.
Most of us thought the limit for Nov. 1st was 4.4%, but the cash fares increases were higher than that, and the ticket book increases were almost double.
It seems like every time we delve deeper into how BC Ferry Services Inc. actually works, we discover something new. What is no surprise is that BC Ferries will try to get every cent of revenue the Coastal Ferry Act and the Commissioner allows it to collect.
What Are They Going To Build in Q. Cove?
Plans for the terminal building in Quathiaski Cove will be available at next week’s FAC meeting. Terminal management staff will be on hand to explain what they intend to build, where it will be situated, what it will cost and when it will be built. Terminal improvements are a shared expense across the 16 ferries in the minor route group.
John Sprungman, Chair,
Ferry Advisory Committee
When BC Ferries’ “cash cards” replace paper ticket books sometime next year, how will they work?
Rob Clarke, Chief Financial Officer of BC Ferries, will explain the plan when the FAC meets from noon to 3:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30th at the Quadra Island Community Centre.
The card system will significantly change the way we pre-pay fares and how much we have to put up front and will create new options for using those dollars.
Instead of buying a specific number of trips, as we do with the paper tickets, the cards will be linked to an account which will have a cash balance which will be debited when we pay the fares for each trip.
In order to get the “prepaid ticket prices,” a ferry user will have to have a card. This means that most of us will be very interested in the details of how the cards will work. If you can’t attend the FAC meeting, I will do my best to report what we hear in the next issue.
How Did They Get Away With That?
Representatives of almost all of the 12 FACs on the BC coast met last week in Nanaimo with CFO Rob Clarke and Ferry Commissioner Martin Crilly to discuss the November 1 fare increases.
It turns out that BC Ferries does have the option of increasing fares above the price cap for a particular period of time, but if those increases result in revenue that exceeds the price cap, using a complex formula the Commission has created, then fares will have to be rolled back in subsequent periods.
Most of us thought the limit for Nov. 1st was 4.4%, but the cash fares increases were higher than that, and the ticket book increases were almost double.
It seems like every time we delve deeper into how BC Ferry Services Inc. actually works, we discover something new. What is no surprise is that BC Ferries will try to get every cent of revenue the Coastal Ferry Act and the Commissioner allows it to collect.
What Are They Going To Build in Q. Cove?
Plans for the terminal building in Quathiaski Cove will be available at next week’s FAC meeting. Terminal management staff will be on hand to explain what they intend to build, where it will be situated, what it will cost and when it will be built. Terminal improvements are a shared expense across the 16 ferries in the minor route group.
John Sprungman, Chair,
Ferry Advisory Committee
tax advantage?
Comment by Becky Knutson on 21st November 2007
If we are going to have our ferry fares skyrocket like they have, for those of us that are actually commuting to work on Vancouver Island the tickets/cards need to be set up so that we can deduct our commuting fares on our income taxes. Commuter ferry fares in the east are tax deductible, but since BC Ferries ticket system is what it is, we are not able to do that here at this time. Last year that would have been a $1200 tax credit/deduction that I could not take because of their system. Please do what you can to ensure this will be a possibility for us in the future. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the mtg on the 30th. Thanks for keeping us informed.
If we are going to have our ferry fares skyrocket like they have, for those of us that are actually commuting to work on Vancouver Island the tickets/cards need to be set up so that we can deduct our commuting fares on our income taxes. Commuter ferry fares in the east are tax deductible, but since BC Ferries ticket system is what it is, we are not able to do that here at this time. Last year that would have been a $1200 tax credit/deduction that I could not take because of their system. Please do what you can to ensure this will be a possibility for us in the future. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the mtg on the 30th. Thanks for keeping us informed.