For thousands of years, boats have been the primary mode of transportation in Greater Vancouver — one look at the region's geography makes it clear why.The indigenous inhabitants of the area relied on watercraft for hunting, trade, and transportation, as did the first European settlers, their descendants, and recent immigrants. As paved roads gradually replaced trails, and horse-drawn carriages yielded to gas-powered cars, aquaphilic cities had a choice to make. Some, like Sydney, Australia, opted to protect their ferries from going the way of the dinosaurs, while in Vancouver, such services were sacrificed at the altar of the almighty automobile. .JÄGER: Sydney is everything Vancouver could be.These days, while Aquabus and False Creek Ferries operate privately in False Creek, the SeaBus from downtown Vancouver to Lonsdale Quay is the only aquatic portion of the public transit network. Contrast that to Sydney, which has 10 regularly-scheduled routes..Perhaps nowhere is the region's prior reliance on marine travel more evident than Burrard Inlet and Indian Arm, where communities and holiday spots were established long before the first roads or bridges were built..In a somewhat ironic twist, the towns of Deep Cove and Belcarra are now only accessible to the public by car — or bus. Your best hope of arriving via the water is to befriend someone with a yacht.According to local historian and former Belcarra mayor Ralph Drew — who literally wrote the book on the ferries of Indian Arm — there was once an extensive network of boats moving people and goods between downtown Vancouver and the sound.."Harbour Navigation had regular daily service, and in the summertime, on the weekends, twice-daily service up and down Indian Arm," Drew told the Western Standard during an interview on his Bedwell Bay dock, explaining that from the 1910s until the 1960s, "it was all about ferry traffic.".He recalled that many people who had cottages — referred to as camps at the time — would sometimes take the ferry to and from work in the city, while others relied on them for mail and grocery delivery, or even transporting livestock.When asked whether he believed the population of the area might ever rise to a level where year-round marine public transportation would make sense, he said "no." His analysis mirrored that of Metro Vancouver, which noted in a 2022 report that the region has "the right geography, but not the intensity and frequency of urban development along regional waterways nor the traffic congestion" to make a public service commercially viable. .One of the report's Implementation Goals was to "complete a passenger ferry service business case study for eastern Burrard Inlet." When asked how far along staff had gotten, Metro Vancouver told the Western Standard that the case study "has not been started" as they are "proceeding with the actions in a priority fashion."There are currently companies offering chartered tours, dinner cruises, and group water taxis up Indian Arm, though nobody has successfully run regularly scheduled voyages.Drew argued that a seasonal, recreational service could be a viable option, pointing out that in the summer, both Belcarra and Deep Cove are overflowing with vehicle traffic.."Tourists can't believe what's located in Vancouver's backyard," he said. "People wanna go out, they wanna see the wild scenery, they wanna see the wild animals."Drew suggested that along with Deep Cove and Belcarra Pier, it would make sense to create a loop with stops at North Vancouver's Cates Park, Port Moody's Rocky Point Park, and Burnaby's Barnet Marine Park.District of North Vancouver Mayor Mike Little and Belcarra Mayor Jamie Ross both referred back to Metro Vancouver's report when asked about the proposal. The former told Western Standard they would not comment until Metro Vancouver staff had conducted their case study, while the latter maintained that at this point, a ferry service simply wasn't commercially viable..Port Moody Mayor Meghan Lahti, on the other hand, was more enthusiastic."I've definitely heard it from at least a couple of members of the community who think that that would be a very interesting thing to pursue," she told the Western Standard, referring to it as an "exciting opportunity."Like Drew, Lahti saw it as a potential boon for tourism in the region."If people came down on the SkyTrain, they could walk down to Rocky Point and then catch a boat out to Belcarra," Lahti said, "or if they were coming from the North Shore, certainly that would be a way faster way to get there."Deep Cove Yacht Club caretaker Russell Gilchrist echoed her sentiments, calling road travel in the area "a misery." He welcomed the idea of a ferry service, lamenting that on sunny weekends, anyone trying to drive into either Deep Cove or Belcarra risks not finding a spot to park unless they arrive at the crack of dawn.Other residents of the small North Shore community raised concerns about adding even more hustle and bustle to the sleepy town. One man told the Western Standard that the nice thing about Deep Cove is that "nobody who comes here is on their way to anywhere else.".Lahti predicted that a private operator was more likely to give it a shot than one that relied on public funding, adding that if the proposal had the "full support" of all the other municipalities involved, the next step would be to create a project plan to "assess whether or not that infrastructure was there.".There are currently docks in all the aforementioned communities, however some are operated by Metro Vancouver, while others are city-run with restrictions on commercial use. Lahti said a certain amount of upgrades would have to be made to accommodate ferries and their passengers. False Creek Ferries Operating Director Jeremy Patterson told the Western Standard that starting and running a private transportation company involved dealing with all levels of government, especially when it comes to acquiring or leasing land and infrastructure.In a statement, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority said that while it's "too early to speculate" on what the procedure might involve, officials are "receptive to engaging in discussions with any interested parties."."You're going to need a sufficient amount of money to operate the company for a few years before you can expect to break even," Patterson admitted, agreeing that a seasonal service would make the most sense.He noted that public engagement is often integral to getting new services off the ground — or water, in this case — and recalled struggling with the Parks Board to gain permission to build a dock at the Aquatic Centre. "It wasn't going very well at the meeting until one of our customers stood up and spoke well about the company and about how it would work," he said, explaining that this "seemingly turned the tide" and helped get it approved. "So you do need the citizenry to kind of want this and advocate on behalf, as well as the company, in order to get something like this done."Will passenger ferries return to Indian Arm and Burrard Inlet, or will such services be forever relegated to the backwaters of history? Stay tuned to find out...
