For Immediate Release
Sunshine Coast Media
20-055
October 7, 2020

Sunshine Coast engagement process yields significant interest

VICTORIA – BC Ferries updated communities today on the feedback it received during the popular “Moving Ahead Together on the Sunshine Coast” engagement. Close to 1,500 people responded through the online engagement, and the company received over 80 applications from community members to participate on the Moving Ahead Together Project Working Group.

In collaboration with Ferry Advisory Committee Chairs from the Upper and Lower Sunshine Coast and Gambier-Keats, the company selected 19 members that represent a cross-section of the community, ferry users and BC Ferries employees. Participants include representatives of Upper and Lower Sunshine Coast residents, vacation home owners, medical travellers, business owners, commuters, local schools, regional economic development organizations, commercial trucking companies, the Sunshine Coast tourism industry and neighbouring islands. Local First Nations also have been invited to participate in the project.

BC Ferries thanks everyone who expressed interest in joining the Project Working Group. Those who applied and were not selected will receive an invitation to participate in a Project Sounding Board meeting. This meeting will happen in early November and will give participants an opportunity to provide feedback on a short list of potential near-term solutions to improve ferry service on the Sunshine Coast before the list is presented to the wider community.

Last week, the Project Working Group began the review of community feedback to identify near-term collaborative solutions to improve travel on the Sunshine Coast. They will use the community’s feedback to inform their discussions. Travel certainty for residents, medical travel, capacity utilization and operational improvements are key areas to focus discussions. The community also expressed interest in learning more about reservation allocations for the Sunshine Coast, traffic data trends and the process for medical assured travel.

The Project Working Group will meet again in mid-October to develop a short-list of potential near-term improvements. This short-list of solutions will be presented to the community for feedback in early November. The company will continue to update the community and report back on how input is being used to inform decision making as the Moving Ahead Together project progresses.

For more information, please visit bcferriesprojects.ca/aheadtogether.