BC Ferries sees "particularly heavy" traffic as long weekend begins
While BC health officials implored people all week not to travel over this May long weekend other than for essential purposes, BC Ferries said they have been seeing “heavy traffic” on their sailings – particularly on the Tsawwassen – Duke Point route.
According to BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall, this is largely due to the fact that Horseshoe Bay – Departure Bay route is temporarily suspended and all traffic going from the Mainland to the mid and northern part of Vancouver Island is going on that route.
Marshall told Daily Hive that BC Ferries doesn’t have a mandate to restrict travel, but “[we] our asking customers to avoid non-essential travel at this time.”
The weekend traffic comes after BC Health Minister Adrian Dix said this week that while the May long weekend is the unofficial start of summer that we look forward to, “this year’s long weekend “is different.”
A global pandemic “puts us all at risk – and we all must stay in our local communities and stay at a safe physical distance from others when outside,” he said.
- See also:
Dix added that staying in your local community “means no leisure road trips to cabins or to go boating – especially across our borders.”
Instead, Dix said he encourages everyone “to reach out safely to local friends or families in your neighbourhood and to connect virtually with close ones living in other communities.”
Spending a long weekend “away from people we care about is difficult, but what we are doing matters to ensure more travel and freedom later,” said Dix. “We will be able to enjoy fun spring and summer recreational activities again together, and they will come sooner if we just stay the course.”
Now, more than ever, he said, “we need to stay 100% all in.”
Follow Channels and Categories