BC Ferries plans to cut 98 round-trip sailings between Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island between October and March to boost capacity on remaining runs.
The cuts are expected to be in effect for the next four years and would save $1 million annually at the quasi-private corporation, which is owned in part by the provincial government and receives taxpayer dollars to fund its operations.
Half of the axed runs will be early morning and late night Saturday between Duke Point and Tsawwassen. Other cuts will be on Friday afternoons on the route between Horseshoe Bay and Departure Bay and on the route between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen.
"We are managing our bottom line as efficiently as possible with our cost-containment initiatives in order to reduce expenditures without compromising the safety of our operation," said CEO Mike Corrigan.
The cuts were announced on the weekend after BC Ferries revealed August 24 that it earned $3.3 million in the three months ended June 30. That reverses a net loss of $3.5 million in the same period in 2011.
Fuel surcharges helped revenue increase 5.7% to $197.6 million while operating expenses rose 2.1% to $176.9 million, compared with the same quarter in 2011.
Earlier this year, the B.C. government urged BC Ferries to find efficiencies and cut service in the wake of BC Ferries' annual financial report that showed vehicle traffic at a 13-year low and passenger traffic at a 21-year low.
Those counts continue to fall. In the quarter that ended June 30, BC Ferries experienced a 1.7% decline in vehicle traffic and a 2.4% decline in passenger traffic, compared with the same quarter in 2011.
BC Ferries is embarking on a $39 million customer service program to upgrade aging point-of-sale and reservations systems.
