Skip to content

Easter ferry traffic down from pre-pandemic levels amid COVID restrictions, despite extra sailings

BC Ferries said they had added ‘a third of the extra sailings we usually would for a Easter long weekend’
24764266_web1_200902-NBU-Person-Overboard-BC-Ferries_1
B.C. Ferries’ Coastal Inspiration vessel. (Nanaimo News Bulletin file)

Despite a furor over extra sailings added for the Easter long weekend, BC Ferries said that passenger and vehicle traffic were down on the major routes.

Spokesperson Deborah Marshall said that long weekend traffic was down 63 per cent for foot passengers and 46 per cent for vehicles compared to 2019, the last pre-pandemic Easter in B.C. However, Marshall said it was up compared to 2020.

As an essential service, ferries are continuing to operate at half capacity in order to permit physical distancing.

In a tweet, BC Ferries said they had added “a third of the extra sailings we usually would for a Easter long weekend.”

BC Ferries said they were unable provide passenger counts.

ALSO READ: Parents struggle to navigate in-person school, child care amid B.C.’s surging 3rd wave


@katslepian

katya.slepian@bpdigital.ca

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Want to support local journalism during the pandemic? Make a donation here.