Ferry Advisory Committee Action Minutes

Transcription

1 Ferry Advisory Committee Action Minutes North and Central Coast Ferry Advisory Committee Date: October 20, 2011 Time: 1 p.m. Location: Fairmont Vancouver Airport Participants: FAC Committee Sharron Cartier James Emerson Larry Greba Greg Martin Kathy Nylen Mayor Bev Parnham Evan Putterill Medric Reid Mark Schlichting Billy Yovanovich Via conference call Sandra Boyd Sheila Gordon-Payne Absent Stephen Waugh BC Ferries Rob Clarke, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer Captain Keith Hopkins, Marine Superintendent Jeff West, Regional Director, Terminal Operations, North Joanne Carpendale, Director, Corporate Planning Darin Guenette, Manager, Public Affairs 1. Call to Order and introductions: 1 p.m. Kathy Nylen told the group that Steve Waugh was unable to attend with last minute flight cancellations and that he may try to join via telephone. In Steve s absence, the committee asked Bev Parnham to chair the meeting. 2. Approval of Agenda: The following items were added: 3.j. Route 11 night arrivals 3.k. Route 11 weather cancellations Thereafter, the agenda was approved. 3. Agenda Items: none. a. Chair s report- none. b. Communication protocol deferred in Steve Waugh s absence. c. Commissioner s review deferred in Steve Waugh s absence. d. Fare increases impact Bev Parnham expressed that fares have been filtering out a great of travelers to the Port Hardy region. James Emerson asked if the Route 10 ferry ever fills to capacity, and Captain Hopkins replied that it does not and traffic is declining across all northern routes. Rob Clarke added that both BC Ferries and an independent consultant (InterVistas) have conducted elasticity analysis and determined that there is a near inelastic relationship between ridership and fares. That is, statistics are highly inelastic for minor routes at 0.12 and a higher, but still inelastic, 0.56 for the Northern Route group. He spoke more about other factors that North and Central Coast FAC Action Minutes Page 1 of 5

2 may be involved in influencing consumer habits and spending decisions. Rob cited that when Coastsaver discounts are run (35% off), BC Ferries normally sees an approximate increase of 2% traffic. Billy Yovanovich asked when the last efficiency review of BC Ferries was held. Rob said that the Commissioner reviewed BC Ferries fully in 2010 and found sound and reasonable management practices in place. As well, in 2009 the Comptroller General of BC did an extensive review and found BC Ferries management sound, with reasonable cost containment practices. He said BC Ferries has a rigid cost structure (fuel, ships crew size, labour costs), with little room for movement. James noted that the Inside Passage sailing is a prime seller for international tourists, and visitors have been noticing it is truly expensive. Rob said that BC Ferries Vacations adds noticeable sales for north hotel rooms and tourism dollars. Mark Schlichting asked that, with higher elasticity on Northern routes, has BC Ferries considered discount programs to increase ridership. Rob replied that BC Ferries is already operating under the allowable price cap and statistics indicate discounts would further reduce revenue not increase it. He agrees that the ultimate aim is to encourage more riders, but without giving up revenue. Evan Putterill suggested that this meeting is not the correct venue to discuss fares; groups must focus on speaking to the Provincial government. Rob agreed that fares are essentially a government policy issue. e. Overheight fares and Northern routes Bev Parnham said she is trying to understand why an overheight fare exists only for Northern routes. Rob agreed that the concept of an overheight fare is not logical, and to address this, consultation with all FACs happened a few years ago. The result was a change of all overheight fares to an overlength fare except this committee did not wish to engage this issue. Rob said the intent was to revisit a better solution in the future, and BC Ferries is happy to explore ideas any time. Rob noted two considerations: revenue neutrality must be maintained; and the Revenue section is short-staffed, so solution may take some time. The committee then agreed that BC Ferries should produce options to eliminate this overheight fare. f. Employees home versus home port Bev Parham suggested that, given that not all employees live where they work, the movement of people to their Point of Assembly (POA) must be expensive. She asked if BC Ferries could share statistics and figures around employee movements/costs. ACTION: Rob Clarke to work on producing data around non-resident employee movements and costs when working on Northern routes. Captain Hopkins added that, if a person s POA is in Prince Rupert, they pay to get there for their own shifts unless they are a sick backfill. He gave an example where BC Ferries has been searching for a Master for Skidegate during the past 18 months. Jeff West said that terminals only source employees within the local community, so this movement issue is not relevant. James asked if BC Ferries considers visiting career fairs to and schools for potential employees. Jeff and James to explore ideas outside of the meeting. g. FAC meetings on vessels Bev Parnham wondered if there was a chance to consider meeting on one of the Northern vessels, as members could learn more about the ships. Rob said this thought has been explored, but that the logistics required would be very unwieldy. That is, moving everyone to where the ship is, accommodations, returning people afterwards, etc. He said that Vancouver works the best, as everyone flying to a meeting generally has to fly Vancouver first. Kathy Nylen agreed a Vancouver location is the most logical and efficient. h. Nimpkish reservations and loading processes Sharron Cartier referred to a recent incident where the Queen of Chilliwack (CHIL) was pulled from service and there were great difficulties with rebooking customers on the Nimpkish. Loading problems happened during the Nimpkish s relief service, causing stress and inconvenience for customers. She said difficulty and confusion arose around whether people could get on the vessel and/or how to rebook, and she felt this was unreasonable. She submitted letters as correspondence on this subject. North and Central Coast FAC Action Minutes Page 2 of 5

3 Captain Hopkins agreed that the Nimpkish reservations were complex and that the Reservations team has now developed a more thorough process. He added that, when CHIL broke down, a lot of people were affected and Reservations did not have reliable phone numbers and/or addresses. Sharron noted that her contact information has been added to the files for these other customers. Kathy asked if heavy equipment is given travel priority over passenger vehicles and Captain Hopkins answered that he is unsure of specific details on how these loads were determined. Sharron summarized that she now has a good contact process in place via Zoe King. i. Heiltsuk ancestral relocation project postponed to a future meeting. j. Route 11 night arrivals Evan Putterill noted that people are concerned with arriving at Skidegate in the middle of the night and leaving the ferry with no accommodation options and the ferry not departing until later in the morning. He asked if there is may be an opportunity to remain on the ship longer. Captain Hopkins replied that BC Ferries policy cannot allow customers to remain onboard for security and labour cost reasons. Sometimes a vessel can delay departing with people onboard, but such judgment calls need to consider Route 26 effects if Route 11 vessel remains at Skidegate terminal. Jeff West added that the terminal can consider developing a protocol for allowing customers to get out of the elements if required. Further discussion followed around ways to explore options for improving reservation efficiencies, with general suggestions to communities to consider sending requests for changes in contract service to the government. k. Route 11 weather cancellations Evan Putterill noted that sailing cancellations due to weather seem to be increasing, which is good to know that safety is being considered but this also increases community hardships. He asked if fuel savings are realized by sailing less, is there any thought of helping cover additional customer costs associated with no sailings. Rob Clarke responded that these sailing cancellations are the result of lessons learned during two notable occasions where sailings got caught in adverse conditions. He added that a heavy weather matrix has been implemented, allowing Masters to make better decisions on when to cancel sailings. BC Ferries has looked into cancellation insurance options before, but the cost to customers was prohibitively high. ACTION: In light of previous discovery of prohibitively high premium costs required to implement cancellation insurance, Rob Clarke will discuss with Insurance section if there are any other reasonable options available. Captain Hopkins noted the threshold levels in the matrix have been developed based on studies of passenger comfort levels, not ship safety. As far as concerns with respect to getting info a specific dock, this may be more at the Master s discretion. Finally, he added that there is a plan for placing anemometers on docks, to provide better docking guidance. 4. Presentations: a. Financial performance Rob Clarke reviewed the Route 10, 11, 26 and 40 financial statements for the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years. This included specifics on revenues, expenses and why figures may have changed from one year to the next. Bev Parnham asked what effect the cancellation of HST will have on BC Ferries. Rob replied that, when HST was implemented, it cost BC Ferries approximately $4.5 million per year, so removal of the tax should mean savings for BC Ferries. Then, Bev asked how the Federal- Provincial subsidy is calculated, and Rob explained that the government provides the allocation calculations according to earnings and losses across a route group. Billy Yovanovich asked what the sewage plans for Route 11 are. Rob noted that, even after the new regulations become effective in the summer or 2012, there is still a legal area in Hecate Strait to dump treated sewage, so BC Ferries will continue this procedure. Note to minutes: North and Central Coast FAC Action Minutes Page 3 of 5

4 subsequent to this meeting, Rob has learned that Route 11 will be using a pump truck to remove sewage, not dumping overoboard. Route 26 will use a pump truck to remove sewage from the Kwuna. ACTION: Rob Clarke will send note to Billy Yovanovich if sewage handling practices differ from current plan for the Route 11 vessel to dump sewage in the designated/approved region of Hecate Strait. COMPLETED. ACTION: Rob Clarke will ensure heading on financial statements is changed from mid-coast to central coast. COMPLETED. Evan Putterill asked the Central Coast members if communities have discussions going around about options for CHIL replacement and associated costs or other service options. Bev Parnham said there are some discussions in Port Hardy, but nothing specific. She added that the economic development office there will be looking at this soon. Mark Schlichting asked for clarification on yield shift and Rob explained that the change in customers across different sailing legs of different fares may result in overall revenue changes. b. Operations Report Captain Hopkins reviewed traffic data, on-time performance (OTP) figures, service issues and capital plans pertaining to Routes 10, 11, 26 and 40. ACTION: Darin Guenette to confirm correct service issue statistics (Apr-Aug) and send out to the committee. Darin Guenette to send a copy of the Federal/Provincial subsidy agreement to Greg Martin and James Emerson. COMPLETED. 5. Correspondence: 6. New Business: a. FAC renewal Darin Guenette reminded the committee that the new three-year term begins January 1, 2012 and the plan is to determine committee composition by end of December if possible. Where committee members are appointed by a municipal/regional government body, Darin will work with these organizations to learn of the appointees after the November elections are completed. Evan Putterill said to expect a Skeena-Queen Charlotte appointment in December and Billy Yovanovich added that Skidegate rep will be sent at the same time. b. Spring meeting and FAC feedback Rob Clarke said that, by and large, the feedback BC Ferries has received about the WebEx meetings held in April has been positive. He added that although face-to-face meetings are ideal, it was felt that the teleconference meetings were still very effective; all while saving significant time and costs. Rob then noted that in some cases, it makes sense to bring committee members together, and that BC Ferries would be willing to make arrangements for this to happen. Kathy Nylen expressed that the WebEx meeting is reasonable because attendees could see documents and hear everything. Her suggestion was to switch the teleconference meeting to the fall, as weather may hamper travel plans more often than in spring. Rob replied that this idea was worth considering. Bev Parnham agreed, and added that with new committee members, it may also be more valuable to consider having the next meeting face-to-face. Evan thought the WebEx platform worked well, and could be even better if all attendees were fully participating. Bev agrees that it may be worth gathering members where possible. c. Klemtu dock opening and event Captain Hopkins said that the event marking the opening of the new Klemtu dock went well, including the extra sailing stop. Larry Greba noted that the community showed up in good numbers, with broad representation across groups. He thanked BC Ferries for assistance with coordination and food transfer. North and Central Coast FAC Action Minutes Page 4 of 5

5 7. Next meeting: Planned for spring 2012, with no specific time window at this time. As soon as potential dates have been identified, Darin Guenette will contact all committees and coordinate meeting times. Approved: Capt. Keith Hopkins, Marine Sup t Date: November 22, 2011 Bev Parnham, Acting Chair Date: Approved later North and Central Coast FAC Action Minutes Page 5 of 5