British Columbia Transportation Ministry trashed the plan to install gambling machines in their BC Ferries. Potential revenues from installing the machines in the BC Ferries however, will not return any investments according to the Transportation Ministry.
The idea of putting gambling machines inside BC Ferries is not a bad one at all. As reported by CTV news, the BC Transportation Ministry studied the upside and the downside of the perceived venture. Business analysis from BC Lottery Corporation has estimated a loss of $240,000 annually due to the cost of extra staffing, equipment and IT needs.
The Minister of British Columbia said in a report that, "While the BC Lottery Corporation's analysis showed that this idea wouldn't make money, we'll remain open to other revenue-generating services."
If the proposed venture was approved, B.C. Lottery Corporation would have owned the machines and be responsible for training the staff of BC Ferry to monitor and operate the equipment.
British Columbia Ferry Services Inc., best known as BC Ferries, is a publicly owned company and is independently managed. It provides ferry services to all passengers from the coastal and island communities in the Canadian province of British Columbia.
The company was set up in 1960. Since then BC Ferries became the biggest and largest passenger ferry line in North America and second around the world.
British Columbian Government subsidized a $151 million budget in 2011 and the Canadian government invested $27 million in the same year as the ferry line essentially links the mainland British Columbia to the different island routes.
In 2014, BC Ferries acquired three new intermediate-class ferries to replace their old ferries Queen of Barnaby and the Queen of Nanaimo. In early 2015, BC Ferries conducted naming contests for the ferries, however this event turned a bit odd for them as some submit names mocking the company. Names such as Spirit of Wallet Sucker, Coastal Extortion, and SS ShouldveBeenaBridge were submitted.
