14,500 cruise ship passengers to travel through Vancouver on Saturday
If you plan on being near Canada Place or Ballantyne Pier on Saturday, you may want to leave home a little earlier than usual.
According to an alert from Port Metro Vancouver, a number of cruise ships will be docking with over 14,500 embarking and disembarking passengers expected between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
With that many people all in one place, higher than normal traffic volumes are expected downtown, along with an increased demand for taxis and public transportation.
“In an effort to accommodate the high number of passengers, Port Metro Vancouver is working with cruise lines, the City of Vancouver, Tourism Vancouver, Vancouver taxi companies and other transportation service providers to raise awareness about the significantly increased demand,” writes the port.
“In order to minimize congestion, it is particularly important that arriving passengers do not come to the Canada Place or Ballantyne cruise terminal prior to their scheduled embarkation time in order to avoid further congestion while disembarking passengers are leaving their ships. Given the significant number of passengers utilizing these facilities, Port Metro Vancouver is advising those going to the terminal to make transportation arrangements in advance.”
In order to manage traffic and pedestrian flows, staff from the VPD Traffic Authority will be on hand. Additional Port Metro Vancouver staff will also be on site to assist with passenger inquiries.
According to the port, every cruise call through Vancouver generates $2 million in economic activity. In 2014, Vancouver will see more than 812,000 passengers on 243 calls by 29 cruise ships, adding an estimated $486 million to the local economy.
Featured Image: Canada Place via Shutterstock
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