Gas prices fuel Blaine business

Skyrocketing gas prices in the Lower Mainland are driving many more people across the border to Blaine, Washington to fill up – saving seven to eight cents a litre.

Blaine gas station manager Jay Alexander says in the last nine months, his business has gone up by almost 50 per cent.

Alexander says the border town has been running on empty since 1991 when the Canadian loonie took a dive, and British Columbians stopped going to the U.S. to shop and to gas up.

"To put it in perspective, since about '92, 100 businesses have closed in this town," he says.

Meanwhile, Point Roberts gas bar operators are also seeing more customers – reporting an increase of about 30 per cent this summer.

Richmond resident Mark Darby says he's been buying gas in the U.S. for the past five months, and says he'll keep doing so until prices in Canada go down.

"Because I know it'll save me at least a little bit. It's only a 20-minute drive to the border from my house," he says. "And for me it's worth it."