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Almost 7,000 more pleasure boats plied the waters of the historic Rideau Canal this year, an increase of 13.4 per cent over 2014.
According to statistics released to the Citizen by Parks Canada, 58,583 vessels passed through the 183-year-old canal’s locks in 2015. The numbers don’t include boats that use the canal but don’t go through locks.
As well, the number of lockages on the canal rose by about 11 per cent this year while moorings were up by 12.4 per cent. Two-thirds of canal boaters this year were from Ontario, 23.5 per cent were from Quebec and nearly nine per cent were from the United States.
This year’s boat count was the highest since 2012 and at least temporarily reversed a long-term decline in boat use of the canal, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
In 2014, boat traffic hit a historic low of 51,651 — 5,000 fewer than the previous record low set in 2013 — though vessel mooring increased by five per cent.
In an email, Parks Canada cited several factors, including good weather and low gasoline prices, for the “encouraging growth” of boat traffic on the canal.
As well, Parks Canada offered free lockage on Canada Day f0r the first time and offered new attractions, such as “Red Chairs” at selected locations and oTENTik accommodations — a cross between a rustic cabin and a tent — at Beveridges lockstation, the agency said.
It also credited an early season two-for-one discount on selected lockage fees, which helped spark a 32-per-cent increase in the number of vessels travelling through the system in May.
The number of vessels passing through the canal’s locks peaked at nearly 100,000 in 1982, in part due to publicity surrounding its 150th anniversary. There was a smaller spike to 81,380 in 2007, the year of the UNESCO designation, and boat traffic topped 73,000 as late as 2010.
Boat traffic dropped sharply in 2013 in part because Parks Canada implemented shorter daily operating hours at canal locks.
Some boaters may also have been deterred by news reports about triple-digit increases in lockage fees that were proposed by Parks Canada in 2013.
The increases enraged the boating community, prompting Peter Kent, then-minister of the environment with responsibility for Parks Canada, to freeze lockage fees until 2016.
dbutler@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon
查看原文...
According to statistics released to the Citizen by Parks Canada, 58,583 vessels passed through the 183-year-old canal’s locks in 2015. The numbers don’t include boats that use the canal but don’t go through locks.
As well, the number of lockages on the canal rose by about 11 per cent this year while moorings were up by 12.4 per cent. Two-thirds of canal boaters this year were from Ontario, 23.5 per cent were from Quebec and nearly nine per cent were from the United States.
This year’s boat count was the highest since 2012 and at least temporarily reversed a long-term decline in boat use of the canal, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
In 2014, boat traffic hit a historic low of 51,651 — 5,000 fewer than the previous record low set in 2013 — though vessel mooring increased by five per cent.
In an email, Parks Canada cited several factors, including good weather and low gasoline prices, for the “encouraging growth” of boat traffic on the canal.
As well, Parks Canada offered free lockage on Canada Day f0r the first time and offered new attractions, such as “Red Chairs” at selected locations and oTENTik accommodations — a cross between a rustic cabin and a tent — at Beveridges lockstation, the agency said.
It also credited an early season two-for-one discount on selected lockage fees, which helped spark a 32-per-cent increase in the number of vessels travelling through the system in May.
The number of vessels passing through the canal’s locks peaked at nearly 100,000 in 1982, in part due to publicity surrounding its 150th anniversary. There was a smaller spike to 81,380 in 2007, the year of the UNESCO designation, and boat traffic topped 73,000 as late as 2010.
Boat traffic dropped sharply in 2013 in part because Parks Canada implemented shorter daily operating hours at canal locks.
Some boaters may also have been deterred by news reports about triple-digit increases in lockage fees that were proposed by Parks Canada in 2013.
The increases enraged the boating community, prompting Peter Kent, then-minister of the environment with responsibility for Parks Canada, to freeze lockage fees until 2016.
dbutler@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon
查看原文...
