Service levels for the Q to Q ferry are ebbing for the fall and winter seasons.
Starting Oct. 3, the city is decreasing service levels for the ferry between the Quayside and Queensborough neighbourhoods. The new schedule is in effect until the end of the year.
“We understand that the reduction in service hours is challenging for some users of the service. When we increased service in the spring, we announced at that time that service would be reduced back to winter hours in October in line with the council-approved operating budget,” said Mike Anderson, the city’s manager of transportation.
“This is to reflect ridership that generally declines 50 to 70 per cent, and that becomes much more focused on commuting hours, in the winter season. Also, ridership remains well below pre-pandemic levels.”
While the city is happy to report that ridership has increased this year, relative to last year, Anderson said ferry ridership is generally around 65 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
The Q to Q ferry’s fall schedule has the Q to Q leaving Quayside every 30 minutes, starting at 7 a.m. and going until 10:30 a.m. It will leave Queensborough every 30 minutes from 7:15 to 10:45 a.m.
In the afternoon, the Q to Q will leave Quayside at 3:15 p.m., running every 30 minutes until 6:45 p.m. For those heading out from Queensborough, the ferry will leave at 3:30 p.m., departing every 30 minutes until the final ferry at 7 p.m.
On weekends and statutory holiday, the ferry will get a later start. It will leave Quayside at 11 a.m. (and run every 30 minutes until 4:30 p.m.) and it will leave Queensborough at 11:15 a.m. (and run every 30 minutes until 4:45 p.m.)
During the spring and summer of 2022, the ferry operated from 6 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. on weekdays (later on Friday nights) and from 9 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. on weekends and statutory holidays.
A budget item
Last fall, staff reported to council about the Q to Q ferry as part of the city’s 2022 budget. At that time, staff said ridership had started to bounce back after COVID but was only at about 40 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
As a result, the city continued to operate the ferry on a reduced schedule, compared to pre-COVID levels. Instead of having two vessels ferrying passengers between the Queensborough and Quayside neighbourhoods, one ferry has been in service since the pandemic.
In the fall of 2021, some Queensborough residents expressed concern that fragmented hours for the ferry service contributed to its decreased ridership levels. As an example, some residents said the Q to Q had previously sailed throughout the day and evening, which allowed people to take the ferry to get to appointments and meetings during the day and to use it when going out for dinner or attending evening events.
Anderson said the city understands that many Queensborough residents have come to appreciate the Q to Q ferry – and the appealing option it provides for getting across the Fraser River.
“It is very important to the city that people are choosing the ferry over driving for many of their trips,” he said. “There is a significant financial implication to continuing to provide summer levels of service when ridership is much lower through the winter. Given the impacts of the pandemic in recent years on ticket and sponsorship revenue, we need to adjust service levels based on the ridership we are seeing to manage the financial impact on the city.”
The Q to Q ferry, operated by Bowen Land and Sea Taxi, had been transporting passengers between Queensborough and the Quay since 2017. The city initially launched it as a two-month demonstration project in 2017 and proceeded with a pilot ferry service in 2018.
The city pursued a ferry service after its plans for a pedestrian and bicycle bridge between the Queensborough and Quayside neighbourhoods went off the rails. Residents have long spoken about the need for a reliable and useful form of public transit that connects Queensborough to SkyTrain stations, as well as shops and services at the Quay and in downtown New West.
For more information about the Q to Q ferry schedule or fares, go to www.newwestcity.ca/qtoqferry.
