VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Gas prices have been hovering around $1.50 a litre in Metro Vancouver, which is higher than we’ve been used to over the past several months.
In the U.S., gas prices are about 40 to 50 cents cheaper than they are here. In the “before times” — or before COVID-19 shut down the land border, for the most part — many British Columbians would drive south for a fill up.
“As soon as your gas price spikes, we see an influx here. But, obviously not in the past year,” said Skye Hill, who owns the Chevron in Blaine on Peace Portal Drive.
Gas Prices in Vancouver (@1130gastracker):
•Oak & 67th: 145.9
•Oak & 49th: 145.9
•Oak & 41st: 145.9
•Oak & King Ed: 145.9/145.9Last year: https://t.co/1sTs32Jjg6
— Tim James (@_TimJames) March 23, 2021
Canadians haven’t been able to drive across the border for leisure for a year now, and that’s having a huge impact for some businesses across the line.
Hill says her station’s gas sales are down 90 per cent.
“You know, it isn’t just Blaine — it’s all the way down I5 that this has affected, so we are just so eager for that border to open,” said Hill. “We will survive but it just definitely is not the same without our Canadian customers.”
“We’re down to about 10 customers a day as opposed to a couple hundred,” added Kelly Bravener, with Speedway Express in Point Roberts.
Bravener says they’re making it work, despite fewer customers coming through.
“But it is depressing,” she told NEWS 1130. “There’s nothing open, our wildlife has just gone crazy. Like the coyotes and the deer.”
Non-essential travel is not allowed under current border restrictions. They were first brought in in March of last year, being extended on a near-monthly basis since.