wilees

Hi have been looking at the BC Ferries site and I am still confused.

We will be 2 foot passengers.

1. Can we make advanced reservations (website is only for vehicles)
2. How do we get to the ferry terminal? (website only talks about groups of footpassengers) i.e. is there a shuttle

Is there an easier way to get to Victoria that I am overlooking?

traveller69

If you are a foot passenger you do not need a reservation. However if you need to get to the terminal from Vancouver there is a bus that you can take from downtown Vancouver to downtown Victoria. You can take the bus all the way or if you have transportation on the Island you can take the bus to and onto the ferry. There are lots of options just check out their website http://www.pacificcoach.com/

Garfield

See bcferries.com for information

Carmanah

I want to elaborate about the reservations, because they are a service the BC Ferries introduced a few years ago. As previously explained, they're only for vehicles - as long as you're a foot passenger, you'll always get on the next ferry. If you're driving, there are only so many spots for the cars in the decks (about 400+?). However, I don't know how many people know this, but if you are driving, only a small percentage of the ferry is saved for reservations. Most of the ferry is first-come first-serve, so if you don't manage to get a reservation, it doesn't mean that the ferry is full, it just means that the reserved spots are full. Reservations only make sense if you *have* to be on the ferry at a specific time, *or* you have a feeling the ferry is going to be very busy (on a holiday weekend, prime summer vacation times, summer weekends), and you don't want to chance having to wait an extra hour or two for the ferry.

As for an easier way to get to Victoria from Vancouver, unfortunately the BC Ferries terminals are both located a 45 minute highway drive outside of both Vancouver and Victoria, so they were initially set up with cars in mind (as they're considered a part of the BC highway infrastructure). However, as previously mentioned, the Pacific Coach Lines has a good service for foot passengers. Or, you could always take public transit via the city buses, but that generally takes a few hours longer. If you don't mind spending the money, you could always fly one way by Harbour Air or West Coast Air (two seaplane companies). It's a 35 minute flight, and it costs about $120 per person after taxes.

Sam_Salmon

&quot;<i>as long as you're a foot passenger, you'll always get on the next ferry.</i>&quot;

Sadly this is no longer true.

Transport Canada regulations mean that in the event of an emergency each Crew Member is responsible for a certain number of passengers-this included people who walked on and those who drove on.

Because of tightened regulations BC Ferries has had to keep more accurate records of just how many people are aboard each ship at on each voyage.

In the Gulf Islands in particular it's now not unusual for last minute foot passengers to be refused boarding.

This change of policy has led to some heated exchanges in the local press, demonstrations @ Ferry Terminals and as you can imagine at the ticket booth-especially heated because <u>foot passengers cannot buy reservations.</u>

There is now a half-assed system whereby foot passengers in smaller ports are asked to phone to be put on a list so as to advise BC Ferries of their intention to travel-with no guarantee of anything in terms of boarding-it's the old '<i>get there early, line up and hope for the best</i>.:-&amp;

To date <u>this only applies to people wanting to travel from smaller ports as mentioned</u> <b>those travelling out of Tsawassen, Duke Point, Sidney a Departure Bay need not worry.</b>

wilees

I think the Pacific Coach may be my answer then - thanks for all your help!

This will be my first time in North American and mostly we will be without a car. Already it seems that very little is designed for people with &quot;no vehicle&quot;.

icithecat

Sam. They actually turned away foot passengers on the Victoria / Vancouver run. A couple of sailings only and it was at spring break dates, but still.

Already it seems that very little is designed for people with &quot;no vehicle&quot;.

Too true, But the intelligent will prevail.