Ferry users on the Langdale to Horseshoe Bay route saw their Experience Card fares increase slightly this week, due to a change in how B.C. Ferries calculates fuel rebates and surcharges for cardholders.
As of Aug. 17, a vehicle and driver fare is $42.25, up from $42.10, and a walk-on adult fare is $9.75, up from $9.70.
According to an email from B.C. Ferries explaining the change, the corporation has upgraded its point-of-sale system to allow the current two per cent fuel rebate to be calculated as a percentage of the actual fare paid - meaning people who pay the discounted Experience Card fare will receive a rebate calculated on that discounted fare. Prior to the change, the point-of-sale system calculated the rebate on the standard fare.
Deborah Marshall, director of media relations for B.C. Ferries, said the corporation uses a fuel deferral account, where it collects fuel surcharges and from which it dispenses rebates, as a way to keep tariffs stable despite fluctuating oil prices.
"B.C. Ferries does not recognize any revenues attributable to fuel surcharge/rebates," she wrote in an email. "They go into a fuel deferral account and the balances are used to calculate any future fuel rebates/surcharges."
She noted that while currently, with a rebate in place, the change slightly raises total fares for Experience Card users, the reverse would hold true in the event of a fuel surcharge - total Experience Card fares would decrease slightly.
In the last five years, she said, surcharges have been in effect for 37 months, and rebates have been in effect for 19 months and are currently ongoing.
