BC Ferries CEO David Hahn said the company is proposing to cut 400 sailings per year due to a greater than expected drop in traffic, the CBC reported.

Minister of Transportation Blair Lekstrom will have to approve the reductions first. That decision may not come for another few weeks.

Passenger traffic is at a 20-year low after an almost three per cent decline over the last year, according to a BC Ferries statement released today. Vehicular traffic is the lowest in 11 years.

"We had originally planned for a net loss estimated to be in the range of $20 million for this fiscal year, largely driven by lower traffic levels and our commitment to fund on-going refit and maintenance programs, training and safety programs and capital projects," said David L. Hahn, BC Ferries' President and CEO in the statement.

Hahn said that several factors may have led to the decline in an interview with the CBC after the BC Ferries Annual General Meeting Wednesday.

"I think there's two elements. There's the price of fuel which directly impacts everybody's discretionary income. And I think when you look at the strength of the loonie, it impacts everything in Canada, not just B.C." he said.

In June, The Tyee reported that BC Ferries implemented a five per cent fuel surcharge on most of their minor routes and a 2.5 per cent increase on three major routes between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.

It is not known whether the surcharge has had any significant impact.

Calls to BC Ferries were not returned by deadline.

Carrie Swiggum is completing a practicum at The Tyee.