To the Editor,
Back in the late 1980s, Mladen Zorkin was actively supporting a fixed link to Vancouver International Airport via Valdes Island.
This link would require a number of bridges to Gulf Islands, including Gabriola, that were loudly criticized by residents of the islands.
Today, in this time of fiscal restraint and high ferry fares, it would make sense to revisit the short link ferry routes that were included as an option in the 1980s proposals.
The idea of a ferry route to a terminal near YVR that would link ferry travelers with both the airport and the Canada Line is an idea whose time should be now.
If this “short” route was implemented, both the Horseshoe Bay – Departure Bay Route and the Duke Point – Tsawwassen could be eliminated in favour of a new crossing that would take 40 minutes.
It is also possible that this route could be used for some traffic that now uses the Swartz Bay – Tsawwassen route because the total travel time from much of greater Victoria would not change.
The effect of a 40-minute crossing would be to double the fleet of new ferries.
The savings in capital costs of vessels should more than offset the cost of bridges and terminals, not to mention the possibility of eliminating some of the smaller Gulf Islands routes that are presently subsidized by the major routes.
Fred McCreath
Nanaimo
