Cabs Won't Be Waiting At Departure Bay Ferry Terminal

Cabs Can't Pick Up Fares Inside Terminal

If you are expecting to jump into a cab when you leave the BC Ferries Departure Bay Terminal, you will be disappointed. The two local cab companies which had been servicing the ferry terminal are no longer able to pick up passengers inside the terminal. They will be able to drop off passengers inside the terminal, but will no longer be allowed to wait by the terminal to meet arrivals nor are they allowed onto Ferry property to pick up passengers without paying a fee.

The cab companies will be parked outside the terminal on Zorkin Rd. meaning anyone wishing to catch a cab will have to make their way from the terminal across the parking lot to Zorkin Road.

This has come about as the Ferry Corporation and the taxi companies could not agree on an acceptable fee for the taxis to pay for the privilege of providing pick up service inside the terminal parking area. BC Ferries is said to want $18,000 a year from the two companies for the right to pick up passengers.

The taxi companies find the fees demanded by the Ferry Corporation simply more than they can absorb and any increase in fares would have to be approved by the Province and would be an across the board rate increase and not simply applied to ferry customers. 


Spokesman for both cab companies, Mr. Reeves said they had offered the corporation $7200 annually but the corporation has held fast to their desired fee of $18,000 for both companies.


One of the inequities in the Ferries position as seen by Mr. Reeves is the comparison to what cabs are paying at the Tsawwassen Terminal where cab fares can be in the $50 range, whereas fares from the Nanaimo Terminal are in the $10 - $12 range.