FareIncreaseVille
I had missed this little nugget last week from B.C. Ferries flack-o-tron Deborah Marshall:
VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) June 20/06 - If gas prices go down, B.C. Ferries will eliminate its latest fuel surcharge forcing travelers to pay at least three per cent more for every trip.
Deborah Marshall with B.C. Ferries confirmed that today while appearing on CKNW's Morning News with Philip Till. “If fuel does come down, we do have to take off the fuel surcharge,” Marshall said. “We appreciate it's frustrating, but unfortunately, as I say, we just don't have control over the cost of world prices.
Sure, they might not control world oil prices but they sure as heck control the price of their ridiculous, and unilaterally imposed, reservation fees.
Thirty-five stinking dollars we pay them just to make their job easier every time we take a round-trip on a major route.
And if you don't do it, you are pretty much guaranteed to wait because they have jacked the percentage of 'reserved' spots into the stratosphere.
So why do they do it this way?
Apparently because this is not officially considered a 'fare increase' and thus it does not have to go through the increasingly toothless Ferries Commissioner.
But, then again, maybe I shouldn't be complaining.
After all, they have given us those shiny new widescreen TV's to keep us all docile and happy.
That way, who cares if a propellor falls off during docking, because that just means you'll get to watch an extra episode or six of Sponge Bob Square Pants.
So, come to think of it, maybe we should just privatize everything while we still can.
How else can we possibly hold the line by increasing reservation fees on, say, hospital visits?
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Update: I had forgotten that Paul Willcocks wrote an excellent piece awhile back wherein he delved into the "reservation fee is not a fare" issue in some depth and pointed out that the Ferry Commissioner has asked the government to change the legislation so that it can be regulated.
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