A consolidated waiting room to create one airport-like area for all foot passengers at the Swartz Bay ferry terminal is one of several ideas being proposed as plans are developed for a major overhaul of the facility.
“We are in feasibility [and] conceptual work right now,” said B.C. Ferries president Mark Collins.
He hopes to see a plan ready within 18 months, with construction shortly afterward. A budget has not been set yet.
A public-engagement process will solicit suggestions from customers and communities.
More passenger growth is projected for the Swartz Bay terminal, situated on 22.7 hectares at the end of the Saanich Peninsula.
In fiscal year 2017, 7.168 million passengers and 2.45 million vehicles travelled through the terminal to and from Tsawwassen and the Gulf Islands. A total of 1.625 million were foot passengers.
On a tour of the terminal, Collins looked around one of the current waiting areas for foot passengers and said: “We want to connect this whole area, all five berths, with one big walking space.”
Swartz Bay’s foot-passenger facility, finished in 1992, has three waiting rooms.
The largest, running to Berth 1, can hold 600 people. An overhead walkway connects to the Berth 2 waiting room, with capacity for up to 65 people (with seats for 40). The third waiting room is underneath the Berth 2 room and has seats for about 48 people.
These are plain spaces with few amenities, and are too small at busy times. They won’t be large enough for projected demand.
Collins compared the idea of one waiting room with what is found at airports.
“But early thinking is it creates a customer space which is not going to feel crowded, it is not going to feel rushed and hurried.” A new area would allow for better communication and good sightlines so people can see where they are going.
Each ferry terminal has its own development plan. At Horseshoe Bay on the Lower Mainland, a public-engagement process will run until the fall.
Built in 1930, the Swartz Bay terminal became part of B.C. Ferries in 1960. That was when the new B.C. Ferry Corp. launched regular runs with what was dubbed “Bennett’s Navy,” named after then-premier W.A.C. Bennett, whose vision resulted in the province taking on the ferry service.
Swartz Bay has changed over the years as the fleet and services expanded.
The control tower went up in 1992. In 2007, the vehicle-waiting area was enlarged. There are now 53 holding lanes on 6,600 linear metres, with room for about 982 vehicles.
New ticket booths were built in 2010 farther east on the site to free more space.
Last year saw the addition of measures to discourage speeders — including speed-reader signs, speed bumps and rumble strips.
The 1959 building housing the Lands End Café, washrooms, and offices for terminal and regional administrative staff is targeted for redevelopment. More space for staff and improved amenities for passengers are being eyed.
Collins thinks it would make sense to move the old wooden warehouse away from its current location near the water, where foot-passenger space could go. This 1,200-square-foot building, built in 1962, is too small for current needs, even though it has been modified over its lifetime.
Other ideas include a new system to make it easier for a vehicle leaving one ferry to catch another.
For example, if someone arrives on the Skeena Queen from Salt Spring Island and wants to get on a Vancouver-bound ferry, the driver must leave the terminal, go south to Wain Road, drive across the overpass and then return to the terminal and head through the booths. “We want to get a more efficient way of doing that,” Collins said.
To view the Swartz Bay terminal development plans page go to: bcferries.com/about/publicconsultation2/terminal-development-planning/swartz-bay.html.
