I have read with interest the desire of local East Shore residents to cut their commute time to Nelson and be able to get across the lake faster in medical emergencies. Moving the ferry terminal, in my opinion, does not address their concerns at all.
If we are at all serious about reducing our carbon footprint then not only do we have to lessen use of big ferries like the Osprey and Balfour, we also have to get out of our often single occupancy vehicles as well.
Surely the next second ferry stationed at Balfour should be a passenger only water taxi that transports local residents between Balfour, Kootenay Bay, Riondel, Ainsworth and back to Balfour, linked to an enhanced bus transportation service on both the East Shore and West/North Arm.
Instead of tweaking the issue of fossil fuel consumption at the edges, we need to have a much broader conversation about what fossil fuel-free transportation would look like between our spread out communities in the Kootenays, and how we are going to move our goods so that the roads do not have to be paved every few years, because the road bed was never designed for the weight and speed of trucks using them.
Andy Shadrack
Kaslo
