B.C. Ferries is cutting 98 round trips on its major routes this winter as part of a cost-cutting measure - and some of those cancelled trips will be on the route that runs between Horseshoe Bay and Nanaimo.
The reductions, approved by the provincial government, will go into effect after the Thanksgiving weekend. They are designed to save the corporation about $4 million over the next four years
Most of the cancelled trips are extra sailings on the Tsawwassen to Duke Point run, including an early-morning 5: 15 a.m. and an evening 5: 45 p.m. sailing on Saturdays.
"Saturday does tend to be a lower utilized day," on that route, which is generally used by commercial truck traffic, said Deborah Marshall, B.C. Ferries spokeswoman. On that route, the last trip of the day on Saturdays will now be at 3: 45 p.m. in winter months.
The ferry corporation will also cut 32 round trips from the Swartz Bay-to-Tsawwassen route and 18 round trips from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay - mostly extra trips scheduled around Christmas and Spring Break - this winter.
Marshall said many of the trips being cancelled have been sailing three-quarters empty.
More difficult decisions are ahead in the next year, when the ferry corporation and the province have agreed to look for a further $26 million in savings on the smaller, money-losing minor routes. An agreement on those cuts is expected by next June.
The ferry corporation had originally announced it intended to cut up to 400 sailings to save money. Since then, the province stepped in with an $80-million cash injection. It's unclear at this point how many sailings will be cut in total.
The provincial government pays the ferry corporation a subsidy of about $136 million a year to maintain certain service levels.
On Friday, the ferry corporation announced financial results for its first quarter, which included net earnings of $3.3 million for the three months ending June 30 this year. That compares to last year's loss of $3.5 million during the same period.
Revenues increased by 5.7 per cent over the same quarter last year - partly due to increases in fuel surcharges.
Vehicle traffic was down by 1.7 per cent over the first quarter of last year while passenger traffic was down 2.4 per cent.
