September 20, 1996

Give Us a Call... One of the continuing jobs in Transport Canada is to respond quickly to clients. To make it easier for you to contact us we've attached our new organization chart. The names and phone numbers of our management team are on the chart. Don't hesitate to call... Transport Canada Centres have been established around the province to provide more accessible service to the public. Their specialty, location and phone numbers are also attached to this issue. We want your advice: if you have a suggestion to improve our service, please contact Mark Duncan, Regional Director General, 666-5849.

Airports Transferring ... Letters of Intent were recently signed for Tofino and Pitt Meadows airports, marking the beginning of negotiations to transfer those airports into local hands... British Columbia is leading the way in transferring airports to local community interests. During the last year, seven airports in B.C. have been transferred. Three more will be officially transferred on January 1, 1997 and 14 letters of intent to transfer have been signed. For more information contact: Larry LeGros, Regional Director Airports, 666-2387.

Airports Capital Assistance Program (ACAP) More Flexible... Originally, airports that received a federal operating subsidy couldn't apply for ACAP funding. Now they can, if they meet the ACAP eligibility criteria. The range of projects funded under the $35 million ACAP fund has also been expanded to include snow blowers and snow plows, safety-related groundside improvements and terminal building upgrades... Three airports in B.C. received ACAP funding for safety improvement projects 1996. Powell River received $200,000 to install new runway lights, Bella Coola received $1.3 million to repave their runway and Qualicum Beach received $400,000 to install runway lights. For more information contact: Larry LeGros, Regional Director Airports, 666-2387.

More Canucks U.S. Bound... Thanks to the Open Skies agreement signed in early 1995, there was an 8 percent jump in passenger traffic to the U.S. in 1995 over 1994. Close to 12 million Canadians headed south. The biggest boom in traffic was between Vancouver and Phoenix as the number of flights between the two cities increased 128 per cent.

More Passengers Take to the Air in B.C... Passenger traffic continues to grow in B.C. In 1985, 9,625,00 passengers flew in and out of B.C. That's 18 per cent of the nation's total. By 1995 the figures were 13,711,000 or 21 per cent. In 2005 we can expect 19,508,000 passengers or 22 per cent of Canada's total... Today, there are over 270 air carriers operating in British Columbia.

Canadian Maritime Safety Workshop Coming to Vancouver... Transport Canada is hosting a national workshop on maritime safety from November 13-14, 1996... The themes of the workshop will be: Safety Legislation, Smarter Regulation, Technology and the Human Element, International Harmonization, and Marine Environmental Protection. Among the key speakers will be David Anderson, Minister of Transport, Joseph Angleo, U.S. Coast Guard and Jim Smith, International Association of Classification Societies... The first-ever Marine Safety Award will presented at the workshop. For more information contact: Kevin Kavanaugh, Senior Transport Analyst, 666-0454.

Decades in the Making... The process to officially transfer Victoria Harbour to local control has begun. On July 31, Transport Minister David Anderson signed a letter of intent with representatives of the Province of British Columbia, the city of Victoria and community stakeholders to transfer the port into local hands. Negotiations to transfer ownership of Victoria Harbour are expected to take several months...Victoria Harbour is one of 72 regional/local ports in B.C. to be transferred to community interests over a six-year period, under Transport Canada's new marine policy. In B.C. ten letters of intent to transfer a total of 39 ports have been signed with representatives from the Provincial Government, Regional Districts, Municipalities and First Nations. A national $125 million Port Divestiture Fund has been established to ease the transition. For more information contact Martin Swan, Regional Director Harbours and Ports, 666-2607.

Congratulations... Dave Nowzek has been appointed B.C.'s new Regional Director of Civil Aviation. Nowzek has an extensive background in commercial aviation in British Columbia and has been a pilot for over 30 years.

November 1st is a big day for TC... That's the day Transport Canada celebrates its 60th anniversary. It's also the day TC hands over Canada's air navigation system to Nav Canada and over 600 TC employees in B.C. join the new not-for-profit corporation.

It's the Law...The new Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARS) take effect on October 10. Aircraft operators have until December 10 to comply and CARS auditing begins in the new year. The regulations are available from the Canada Communications Group (819) 956-4800 or through the TC internet web site at http://www.tc.gc.ca/.

More Air Facts... In 1985 there were 801,900 aircraft movements in B.C. or 20 per cent of the nation's total. By 1995 that had risen to 1,036,300 or 22 per cent. Forecasters predict 1,369,000 movements or 25 per cent in 2005... Air cargo traffic has grown from 89,350 tonnes in 1985 or 15 per cent of Canada's total, to 171,730 tonnes in 1995 or 24 per cent. By the year 2005 expect 304,900 tonnes or 28 per cent of the nation's total...

First-ever Joint Ministerial Port State Control Conference... Up to 30 ministers representing member states who have signed the Paris and Tokyo Memorandums on port state control are expected to attend the meeting. The conference will be held in Victoria, in the fall of 1997.

On the Move in B. C.

• British Columbia is Canada's third largest province and comprises 9.5 per cent of the country's total land area...
• B.C. had 12,807,000 passengers traveled through its airports in 1995, compared with 62,255,000 for all of Canada. That's 20.6 per cent of the nation's total...
• The bulk of marine activities in Canada are conducted through B.C. ports: 149 million tonnes in 1995 - 37 per cent nationally...
• Over 38 per cent of crude materials unloaded off railway cars in Canada are unloaded in B.C...
• In 1994 there were 1.53 million passenger vehicles licensed in B.C. and 531,000 commercial vehicles - an increase of 5 per cent and 3 per cent over 1993...

Transport Trends is published by Transport Canada's Pacific Region to keep our clients and stakeholders up-to-date on transportation activities and trends in British Columbia. Questions or suggestions please phone (604) 666-1675, fax (604) 666-7255.

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