What a Week of Tsawwassen Ferry Parking Actually Costs

A week of Tsawwassen ferry parking in the long-term lot comes to roughly $180, not the $135 the posted rate suggests.

People get caught out because the rates are quoted per 24-hour period, which makes it easy to multiply days by dollars and arrive at a confident figure. The tax sits separately, added at the time of ticket purchase as per the official website, so most people meet it for the first time at the machine.

BC Ferries Does Not Run the Parking

Parking at the terminal is operated and managed by Impark, independently of BC Ferries. That distinction matters if something goes wrong, because the ferry customer service desk does not administer the lots.

There are 884 spaces in total, split into two:

• Short term: 168 spaces
• Long term: 716 spaces

The BC Ferries terminal page shows live long-term availability as a percentage, which is worth checking on a summer Friday.

The Part of the Price You Can See

Short-term runs $0.75 for 15 minutes up to a maximum of two hours, or $23.25 for each 24-hour period. Multiple-day parking is permitted in the short-term lot.

Long-term runs on a different structure:

• $11.00 for six hours
• $19.25 for each 24 hours
• $9.60 for each additional 12-hour period after the first 24

Both sets are base rates, quoted ahead of tax.

Then the Machine Adds 34%

BC Ferries adds a 29% Transit Tax and 5% GST at the time of ticket purchase.

That turns a $19.25 day into roughly $26, and a $23.25 short-term day into roughly $31. The longer the car sits there, the wider the gap grows.

Almost every third-party page quoting Tsawwassen ferry parking rates omits this line entirely, which is why people come back to a machine reading higher than they had budgeted for.

What the Long-Term Lot Assumes You Know

Crossing for more than a day means Tsawwassen ferry terminal long-term parking, where a few mechanics catch people out.

Both lots take payment against your licence plate number rather than issuing a ticket, so there is nothing to print or leave on the dashboard. You buy the time on arrival, for however long you expect to be away, and the session expires at the end of it.

The lot codes differ by app. Meters use 1650 for both lots, while PayByPhone uses 1650 for short term and 2550 for long term. Paying against the wrong code means paying for a lot you are not in.

Cash is awkward. Meters take coins only and give no change, and they otherwise want exact change or a card. Exactly one meter accepts bills; it sits in the long-term lot, and it serves long-term parking only.

Extending remotely is possible, which matters when a sailing runs late. Paying by credit card at the meter, you enter your mobile number at that point. A text arrives as the session nears its end, and replying to it within five minutes adds up to 24 hours.

PayByPhone also works as a guest with no app, though going that route starts a new parking session rather than extending the existing one.

Parking is not permitted in the aisles or on the causeway. Vehicles there are ticketed or towed by UniTow. A parking host is available occasionally, seven days a week between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., through the help intercom at any meter kiosk or on 604-830-7088. Cards accepted are Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.

The Lot Behind the Waterslides

The main off-site option, Tsawwassen ferry park and go, sits at Splash Water Park and operates independently of both BC Ferries and Impark. Park & Go publishes flat daily rates:

• Sunday to Thursday: $19.00 per day
• Friday and Saturday: $20.00 per day
• RV or trailer: $27.00 weekdays, $30.00 weekends

The posted long-term rate at the terminal is broadly similar, but the terminal adds 29% and 5% on top, and Park & Go’s published price does not carry the same line.

A few practical details from their own site:

• Open all year, daily from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
• Shuttle to the terminal roughly every 30 minutes based on demand, starting at 8:00 a.m.
• Last shuttle collection from the terminal is 8:35 p.m.
• Anything between 6:00 p.m. and 8:35 p.m. must be arranged by 6:00 p.m.
• No reservations. First come, first served
• Registration happens at the Tsawwassen RV Resort office on Nulelum Way

Their own summer advice is worth repeating: arrive between 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., ahead of Big Splash Waterpark opening. The waterpark runs 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily from 1 July to 4 September, and the site gets considerably busier once it does.

The Cheapest Option Is No Car at All

Anyone looking at a Tsawwassen ferry park and ride has two real options: the off-site shuttle covered above, or crossing as a foot passenger.

Foot passengers pay nothing to park. Across a week, that is the difference between roughly $180 and zero, the largest single saving available here.

TransLink route 620 connects Bridgeport Station on the Canada Line to the terminal. Being dropped off costs nothing either, and the terminal sits inside Delta at the end of the causeway.

What Each Option Adds Up To

Week figures assume seven days spanning one Friday and one Saturday. The two terminal totals include the 29% and the 5%, which is where the difference against Park & Go comes from.

Rates change, and both operators say as much on their own pages. Check the current figures against your dates rather than against an article.