If you were trying to leave the island this weekend without a ferry reservation, you likely had to wait a few sailings, especially on the holiday Monday.
Sailings from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen made for the busiest route of the long weekend. With the Queen of New Westminster vessel out of service for repairs, BC Ferries scheduled additional morning and afternoon sailings to ease the traffic, said Ritinder Matthew, director, issues and media relations for BC Ferries.
“Overall, the weekend is going well. Today is a busy day on the major routes, and reservation traffic is moving smoothly,” Matthew told Chek.
Sailings from Swartz Bay launched at the scheduled departures for most of the day. With a sold out weekend of reservations, passengers without a booking were on standby throughout the day. On Monday, Oct. 14, ticketing for 7 p.m. sailings started before 3 p.m. and about an hour later.
Final numbers on the long weekend’s vehicle and passenger volume are still being counted, but on Friday BC Ferries was anticipating “about 430,000 passengers and 165,000 vehicles.”
Here are the top 5 busiest weekends for BC Ferries
- 1. BC Day
- 2. Canada Day
- 3. Labour Day
- 4. Victoria Day
- 5. Thanksgiving
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