Tag Archives: Jeff Groot

Transportation

Planned price increases; dismantling FAC’s – Changes Coming To BC Ferries 

As some of you may have already heard, BC Ferries is going through changes. They range from a total revamp of the way they have been engaging with the public, to  expenses that probably won’t effect fares until 2028.

Let’s start with finances. BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez recently informed the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce the cost to build ferries has risen 40% since 2020. Speaking as a customer, my immediate thought was this sounds like there is a fare hike coming. 

Jeff Groot, BC Ferries Executive Director in charge of communications, responded “I think that’s a fair reaction. There’s a couple of things that we’re experiencing right now.”  

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Uncategorized

BC Ferries CEO speaks to Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce about navigating through growing pains

By Sidney Coles, Capital Daily, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A sense of optimism and ambition marked BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez’s update to members of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce and other regional stakeholders on Tuesday morning. It also served as a report card and warning that expensive changes and subsequent fare increases are definitely on the horizon. 

By 2028, a 30% fare increase will be necessary just to stay at its current levels of service, he said. The increase represents a necessary shift in BC Ferries’ priorities around fleet and infrastructure upgrades.

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Transportation

Think ferry meetings are scary? Ha. Try City Council.

Editor’s Note: On February 3, 2024, BC Ferries held community drop-in meetings on Cortes and Quadra Islands. There were 25 and 34 participants, respectively. A big concern on Cortes is ‘assured loading.’ BC Ferries stated they need to monitor the effect of using two ferries between Campbell River and Quadra first, but will reevaluate loading procedures after the summer. The first steps towards full electrification of the Campbell River run (design and BC Hydro upgrades) have begun. The design work is expected to take a year. Some sailings on the Campbell River – Quadra route were cancelled because of a lack of crew members and BC Ferries is in the midst of the biggest recruitment campaign in its history.

Originally published on qathet Living

For the past several weeks, Kim Barton-Bridges has tried to figure out when – or whether – BC Ferries executives planned to come to Powell River for the regularly-scheduled spring Northern Sunshine Coast Ferry Advisory Committee meeting, which she chairs. 

The last one was September 21, at the Town Centre Hotel. That one was a little raucous, because some locals were angry about a summer of waiting for hours in hot parking lots, a reservation system that had failed, the cost of traveling, and sailing cancellations due to staffing problems and occasionally technical problems. Although ultimately, Kim noted, everyone at the meeting was relatively respectful. 

Continue reading Think ferry meetings are scary? Ha. Try City Council. →