Lower rates approved for local company SUNSHINE CABS WINS FARE NORTH Vancouver’s Sunshine Cabs Lid. has been given Motor Carrier Commission (MICC) approval to lower its tates and charge the same fares as other Lower Mainland taxi companies. “We are happy that we will be able to compete head to head with everybody else.” Sunshine presi- dent Richard Hughes said Thurs- day. MCC approval of the company’s Jower rates was finalized Ang. 15. As a_sresult, Sunshine’s per kilometre charge has been dropped from $) to 90 cents, while its hour- ly charge has been reduced by $4, from $18 to $14. The company’s flag rate (a cab’s basic starting rate) will remain $1.40. Its 10 per cent discount for senior citizens will also remain in Friday iby any other name - is still Friday THE NEWS has some good news and some bad news with regards to Friday’s newspaper. The good news is that it really was Friday on Sept. 5 — thank goodness! The bad news is that our news- paper was running behind the time, and boldly advertised on the front page that it was Wednesday. So, for all of you who picked up Friday’s paper, saw the Wednes- day banner, thought you had already read it, but took a second look when you saw a new and dif- ferent front page, rest assured. You weren’t mixed up — we were. One of the blessings of the newspaper business is that there is always a new day. Happy Sunday, Sept. 7! By TIMOTHY RENSHAW News Reporter effect. Hughes said application to lower Sunshine’s rates was made because all cab companies picking up at Expo must charge the same. According to the terms of its luxury Jicence, Sunshine has been required to charge 10 per cent more for its service and conse- quently was not permitted to pick up customers at the world’s fair site. Hughes estimates that the Kathy Bondez=ve. NORTH Vancouver’s Laurel Exptorations Ltd. has hit another dry hole in its attempt to find natural gas on Van- couver Island. Laurel’s partner in the venture, British Petroleum Canada (BP) announced recently that a second well drilled on the North Van- couver company’s Vancouver Island property had been aban- doned. “hrs another dry well,”’ BP spokesman Bruce Murray said from Calgary Wednesday. ‘‘We’re disappointed, yes, but we'll have to assess the information from both wells to see where we go from here. We haven't written the area off by a long shot." Laurel president Doug Webber By TIMOTHY RENSHAW News Reporter said Wednesday the result was not unexpected: ‘*When you're wildeatring the way we were, it’s (dry wells) usually the result.’ Webber, who owns North Van- couver’s Web Engineering Ltd.. formed Laurel in 1981. The com- pany subsequently acquired the drilling rights to 175,000 acres just south of Nanaimo. BP's pre-drilling exploration on the property, which cost approx- sestriction cost his company be- tween $75,000 and $80,000 in lost revenue over the first 244 months of Expo. Hughes said Sunshine had also won recent approval to service the Vancouver airport. Ten of the company’s cars will now be per- mitted to pick up fares at the air- port without having made prior arrangements with customers. As with Expo service, all cabs picking up at the airport on anything but previously arranged fares, must charge the same rate. “St was the final straw,” Hughes said. North Shore Taxi General Man- ager Masoud Fanai said Sunshine’s application was something _ his company had predicted ever since Sunshine rolled onto the local market in March, 1982 after a suc- THIS impromptu bit of straw beach mat levitation took place recently day spent foun;,!ag on the beach, right to left, are Susan Bonderove, 1 NV drilling firm comes up dry imately $1 million, was begun 2% years ago. After moving $5 million worth of drilling equipment to the Laurel property, BP sunk its first well June 25. The company hit ‘the basement’ (rock below the sedi- mentary basin) at 1,040 metres and the well, located about 20 kilometres southeast of Nanaime. was abandoned as dry in late uly. The most recent well, approx- imately five kilometres south of the first well, was abandoned in late August. It was dritled to a depth of 1,874 metres, Murray estimated the cost: of drilling both wells to be $3 million. “But we should not be disap- pointed," Webber said. “We have 3 - Sunday, Seplember 7, 1986 ~ North Shore News AR cessful application to operate a 25-licence luxury cab service on the North Shore. Since then, Sunshine has ex- panded its fleet to 30 cars and employs a staff of about 70 full and part-time drivers. North Shore, meanwhile, has reduced its fleet from 81 to its current 72 curs over the same period. It currently employs 150 drivers. In order to qualify for Fxpo service, North Shore had to boost its flag rate to $1.40. Fanai said Hughes’ original ap- plication to run a luxury service “‘was just an excuse to get into the market.”’ But he said he did not expect Sunshine’s new rates to affect his company’s business. If it did, Fanai said North Shore would increase its fleet io step up at Anibleside Beach during a rare gust of wind. Packing up afier a sunny 1, Kirsten Rowlands, 11, Michael Bonderove, 10, Paul Mitchison, 10, and learned a lot and we have to evaluate what we have found. | think we all realized that this would be a long-term program. The company (Laurel) is not about to collapse."* Laurel's stock has slipped on the Vancouver Stock Exchange from a trading high of $1.75 to its current 48 cents. Murras said BP would evaluate the information from both wells to decide subsequent drilling sites, “Hts a jigsaw puzdie. Phere is a lot of acreage involved." Murray added BP should have a pretty good idea of its drilfing plans for the area within six mon- ths. ne ae SUNSHINE PRESIDENT Richard Hughes...company “will be able to compete head (to head with everybody else.” competition. Hughes said the rise of Sunshine on the local market has forced North Shore to improve to the point where ‘“‘there is no Lower Mainland community better served than the North Shere." He added that his company’s survival bore out the need for a luxury taxi service in the local marketplace. NEWS photo Tom Burley INDEX Business...........27 Classified Ads.......41 Doug Collins.........9 Comics ........ Editorial Page Fashion Bob Hunter Lifestyles Mailbox