Vancouver-Bowen-Sunshine Coast ferry proposal gets backing from BC politicians
The team behind a proposed new electric ferry service connecting downtown Vancouver with Bowen Island and the Sunshine Coast is marking an important milestone on the way to making their idea a reality.
The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation and Councillor Rebecca Bligh called notice for a motion to direct staff to work with Greenline Ferries on the feasibility of their proposed passenger-only ferry service.
“I think the ferry service provides a unique opportunity not only for our downtown core and city, but for the region as well,” Bligh told Daily Hive Urbanized in an interview. “It’s an opportunity for travellers and commuters to choose a ferry service instead of driving their vehicles in and out of the city every day.”
The dock at Harbour Green Park is the proposed site for boarding Greenline Ferries’ proposed service in Vancouver. (Submitted)
The motion will officially come to council for approval at the end of February, but several key players are already on board. The mayors of Gibsons and Bowen Island, along with the Sea to Sky’s provincial and federal political representatives, gathered in downtown Vancouver Friday morning at Harbour Green Park in Coal Harbour — Greenline’s proposed site for the downtown Vancouver’s dock.
They announced their support for the project’s potential to unite the region and offer additional choices for commuters and tourists interested in exploring BC.
“I love travelling amongst those smaller communities in our province,” Bligh said. “And I have experienced, first hand, significant ferry delays travelling over to the Sunshine Coast and particularly Bowen Island. I’m excited to see another possibility.”
Greenline’s proposed ferry service, which Daily Hive Urbanized first reported in 2023, would use a fleet of 100% electric-battery catamaran vessels. It points to MS Medstraum models from a European-Union-backed research development project that successfully entered service in Norway in 2022.
The electric-battery MS Medstraum ferry vessel in Norway. (TRAM Project)
The ferries would seat 150 passengers and contain bike racks for up to 20 cyclists. With a top speed of 50 kilometres an hour and little excess noise or vibration, the vessels would be able to dock in downtown Vancouver. Greenline’s proposed dock in Harbour Green Park is a short walk from Harbour Air’s existing seaplane terminal. On Bowen Island, Greenline plans to dock in Snug Cove, and in Gibsons, it would use the Gibsons Public Market.
Travel time between Vancouver and Bowen Island is estimated to be 45 minutes, and travel time between Vancouver and Gibsons is estimated to be 75 minutes.
Greenline Ferries
Bligh acknowledged there are still several boxes to tick before Vancouverites are able to board one of the ferries. But if everything runs smoothly, she estimated British Columbians could see the ferries running as early as spring 2027.
“The political will is there,” she said. “As well as a location to land this type of service that we’ve never really seen before in such a robust way in our region.”
Former provincial Crown corporation BC Ferries is the primary provider of ocean crossings in coastal BC. It receives federal and provincial money in exchange for agreed-upon service levels linking key communities in the province. BC Ferries is also the only ferry operator that takes vehicles on board.
Hullo Ferries entered the market in 2023 with a fleet of passenger-only high-speed ferries from downtown Vancouver to Nanaimo.
If Greenline’s vision becomes reality, it would give foot passengers in downtown Vancouver more choices of coastal destinations they could get to without the journey to BC Ferries’ hubs in Horseshoe Bay or Tsawwassen.