To the editor,
I frequently ride the ferry between Horseshoe Bay and Langdale and it is always overcrowded.
People always have a one-sailing wait (or more) at either end of the route.
I know that a lot of people do ride this ferry from Sunshine Coast to get to Vancouver Island via Horseshoe Bay.
I think the solution to this problem is to have a ferry run directly from Langdale to Nanaimo. This would reduce overcrowding on the Langdale to Horseshoe Bay ferry and on the Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo ferry. Plus this ferry would connect Vancouver Island with the lower half of the Sunshine Coast. It would also save travel time between the Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island.
After all, with travelling from the Sunshine Coast to Vancouver Island, it takes a ferry from Langdale to Horseshoe Bay (40 mins), a wait for the next ferry to Nanaimo, then a ferry across to Nanaimo (one hour, 35 min). That’s a total of two hours and 15 mins of travel from the Sunshine Coast to Vancouver Island via Horseshoe Bay. A direct ferry route from Langdale to Nanaimo would be much faster.
Plus bringing new customers onto B.C. Ferries and would therefore boost tourism on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast. People who live on the Sunshine Coast but never travel to Vancouver Island can go visit Vancouver Island. People who live on Vancouver Island but don’t go visit the Sunshine Coast can go and visit the Sunshine Coast.
Our population is growing here on the south coast, and with that, so is ridership on the ferries and so is the need for a new ferry connecting Langdale to Nanaimo.
What do Vancouver Islanders think? Should there be a ferry running from Langdale to Nanaimo? Would it help reduce overcrowding on the ferries connecting Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay and Horseshoe Bay to Langdale? Would it help boost tourism on the Sunshine Coast?
Ian Dewar McPherson, Richmond
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