To the Editor,
I totally disagree with comments made by Larry Stevenson (Island Corridor Foundation CEO confident, Letters, Dec. 16).
People need to stop speculating that the start up of the railway on Vancouver Island would be economical. That will never happen.
Why? People want to drive their own cars.
In September 2016, Wilson’s Transport started up a daily commuter service for a bus from Langford/Colwood to Victoria. A 52-seat bus that supplied WI-FI and coffee included in your fare.
In May 2017, Willson’s had to suspend the service as the average daily passenger count was 18 people.
The PGE railway (later B.C. Rail) had passenger service from North Vancouver to Lillooet, B.C. That service was cancelled as people found it more worthwhile to take their car for the four-hour drive to Lillooet.
Before retirement, I drove daily round trips from Lake Cowichan to Victoria on Vancouver Island to my work place. When meeting traffic coming on to Highway 1 out of Colwood and Langford, I noticed many cars with only one person in the car. That proves that 10 people living on the same street, do not car pool, and each take their own car to work and are fine with paying a monthly rental fee to park their car while they are at work.
The same applies to long weekend ferry travel traffic. They line up for hours, get on the ferry, arrive at their destination on the other side, park their car and never use it again until it is time to head home and line up again at the other end.
They don’t use common sense and park the car at the ferry terminal to go on to the ferry as a walk on passenger.
Having patience is the greatest victory in life, but there is no patience left in the people of today, thus the must in driving a car. In summary, the return of the railway on Vancouver is now history.
Joe Sawchuk,
Duncan