VICTORIA – B.C. Ferries says the successful introduction of wireless hand-held point-of-sale units to process fares at the Denman East and Quadra East terminals has led to the decision to permanently discontinue the sale of prepaid paper tickets for these two routes effective Oct. 31.

B.C. Ferries launched the B.C. Ferries Experience Card in the spring of 2008 at terminals with point of sale systems. Until now, these transactions have been manually processed at Gravelly Bay on Denman Island for travel to Hornby Island and at Heriot Bay on Quadra Island for travel to Cortes Island. With the introduction of the new wireless hand-held devices, the prepaid paper tickets are no longer required.

B.C. Ferries will continue to accept the prepaid paper tickets currently in the market as a method of payment on these two routes until Dec. 31. Customers with these tickets are able to transfer the value of the tickets on to a B.C. Ferries Experience Card until June 30, 2011 at Campbell River, Buckley Bay or any other terminal with a point-of-sale system.

As of July 1, 2011, prepaid paper tickets for Hornby and Cortes Islands will no longer have a monetary value.