A jump in BC Ferries' ticket prices is not going down well with customers.
Ferry passengers, who spoke to CTV, said they are not happy at having to swallow the new fuel surcharge, which kicked in on Friday.
One said the decision to hike prices for the second time in four month will only reduce ferry traffic, forcing the ferry operator to raise prices even higher to cover its costs.
"It's a vicious spiral. Eventually you are going to see only a few select people riding the ferries,'' said Stewart Trowsdale.
Michelle Rempel agreed. "Just as they subsidize the Sea to Sky Highway, the Coquihalla and the SkyTrain, the government should be subsidizing transit which is an essential service for us islanders,'' she said. "It should be on [B.C. Premier] Gordon Campbell's head.
As a result of Friday's price hike, fares on the three major routes between the mainland and Vancouver Island have risen by 10.3 per cent and fees on 18 minor routes are up 17. 6 per cent, while the fare on the Horseshoe Bay-Langdale route servicing the Sunshine Coast has jumped 9.2 per cent.
Only the company's northern routes have been spared from the rising fares.
B.C. Ferries started tacking on fuel surcharges in 2005.
The surcharge, which applies to Vancouver Island, the southern Gulf Islands and the Sunshine Coast routes, is the second hike for ferry passengers in the past four months.
BC Ferries blames escalating fuel costs, which have almost doubled since 2003, as the reason for the surcharge.
Spokeswoman Deborah Marshall says it's unfortunate that the high fuel prices have to be passed on to customers, but she says the company has seen its fuel costs rise from $45 million five years ago to $140 million this fiscal year.
With a report by CTV British Columbia's Jim Beatty.
