BC Ferries announced today that both a tariff increase approved by the BC Ferries Commissioner, as well as a fuel rebate will occur on April 1.
Fares for vehicles and passengers will rise by 3.9 per cent on average on April 1. At the same time, a fuel rebate of 1 percent will be implemented on major and minor routes. On the northern routes between Port Hardy and Prince Rupert and Prince Rupert and Haida Gwaii, fares for vehicles and passengers will increase by 2 percent on average.
Effective April 1, the net effect for customers on the major and minor routes will be an increase on average of 2.9 per cent on the price of a ticket. The northern routes are not subject to fuel surcharges or rebates. The fuel surcharge/rebate mechanism is separate from the tariff calculation and any fuel rebate or surcharge is strictly a pass through from the fuel deferral accounts. With the company's fuel hedges in place, the fuel rebate should stay in place at least through the summer months, and possibly into next year. BC Ferries will keep a close watch on the fuel deferral account balances with a view to extending the rebate as long as is practical.
“We know that fare affordability is an issue for our customers and because we’ve hedged a considerable amount of our diesel fuel costs over the next fiscal year, we are pleased to be in a position to introduce a fuel rebate which will help lessen the impact of the tariff increase,” said Mike Corrigan, BC Ferries’ president and CEO. “While we actively manage the business and reduce expenditures wherever possible, the fare increases are directly associated with increased operating costs and capital replacement.”
In making the announcement, BC Ferries also advised that the cost of reservations, assured loading tickets and the buy-in level for Experience Cards will not increase on April 1. On March 18, the BC Ferries Commissioner released the Preliminary Decision on Price Caps for the Fourth Performance Term, in which he set the increase in price caps at 1.9 percent from April 1, 2016 through March 31, 2020.
