BREAKING Police investigating shooting outside of Drake's Bridle Path mansion: source
Toronto police are investigating a shooting that took place outside of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion early Tuesday morning, a source tells CP24.
When James Charles-Roberts booked a vehicle back in May, he and his family were looking forward to a two-week holiday in Southern California.
After several attempts to visit Disneyland were thwarted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the November vacation would be a chance for the Victoria, B.C., family to use their theme park tickets before they expire.
However, when Charles-Roberts called in June to move his reservation for a seven passenger Ford Explorer by a day, the cost of the car rental nearly tripled.
"I booked the vehicle for $480 and when I called to make a change the price was $1,286," he said in an interview. "It was just a minor change so we decided to keep our first reservation."
The car rental shortage -- or "carpocalypse" as its been dubbed in the U.S. -- highlights what is expected to be a bumpy economic recovery as supply chain issues throw car rental supply and demand out of whack.
The problem started when nearly all travel was halted at the outset of COVID-19 lockdowns and travel restrictions.
Car rental reservations plummeted, prompting companies to drastically downsize fleets and lay off workers.
"Most if not all car rental operators across the world had to reduce their fleets significantly during the pandemic due to extreme reductions in consumer demand," said Craig Hirota, vice-president of government relations and member services with the Associated Canadian Car Rental Operators.
"Nobody was travelling for vacation and corporate travel was basically non-existent. It left a lot of unused vehicles sitting on lots."
Now, the situation has reversed. As the economy reopens and demand returns, a global shortage of semiconductors has crippled vehicle production and caused lengthy delays for new cars and trucks.
"The car rental industry has not been able to resupply their fleets," Hirota said. "They just can't get vehicles."
Enterprise Holdings, the U.S. parent company of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car, said the chip shortage "has impacted new vehicle availability and deliveries across the industry at a time when demand is already high."
The company added in an emailed statement that it's "working hard to secure additional vehicles to meet the increasing travel demand and support customers' broader transportation needs."
In the meantime, car rental operators are jacking up rates amid the tight supply and increasing demand.
"I think there's some price-gouging going on for sure," Charles-Roberts said of his experience trying to change his Los Angeles airport vehicle reservation.
The industry-wide car rental crunch is already in full force in the United States, where stories are emerging of tourists renting U-Haul moving vans or private vehicles from locals to get around.
The problem is expected to worsen in Canada this summer, especially in regions that rely heavily on tourism.
Many airport locations in East Coast cities like Halifax, Charlottetown and St. John's are nearly sold out on weekends this summer.
"The impact is being felt everywhere -- at least in hot tourism spots across Canada and the U.S.," Gary Howard, senior vice-president of marketing and communications with CAA Atlantic, said in an email.
"Most of the fleets are leased so during the high point of COVID, fleets were shrinking," he said. "Now it is coming back but the car rental companies cannot get enough vehicles back in the fleets."
While the car rental shortage is expected to be felt more acutely in tourism destinations, prices are up across the country.
Hamilton resident Allyson Rowley said she often rents cars for long-distance travel and to visit family.
In 2019, she said she usually paid about $30 a day, an amount that climbed to about $40 in 2020. But Rowley said she just booked a car for two weeks in August, and the price was $61.52 a day.
"The cost has doubled since before the pandemic," she said. "I've made an ethical and financial choice to not own a car as I mostly walk and bike and only rent a car when I need one, but it's becoming unaffordable."
For travellers hoping to rent a car this summer, experts say it's critical to book early, search beyond airport locations and be prepared to pay more than usual.
It may also require alternatives to car rentals such as car sharing or public transportation as they say the shortage isn't expected to ease up any time soon.
"If you're planning travel, we encourage you to reserve a vehicle as early as possible," Enterprise Holdings said. "Providing flexible travel dates and branch pick up locations in your search may help increase your options."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 6, 2021.
Toronto police are investigating a shooting that took place outside of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion early Tuesday morning, a source tells CP24.
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway. While the term fruit is recognized botanically as anything that contains a seed or seeds, vegetable is actually a broad umbrella term.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
Three Indian nationals accused of murdering Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar are due to face court Tuesday over the killing that triggered a major diplomatic rift with India.
Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza's vital Rafah border crossing on Tuesday as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and moved into the southern city even as cease-fire negotiations with Hamas remained on a knife's edge.
Sporting mullets, Canadian Armed Forces officer cadets placed second in an annual military skills competition in the U.S.
Sure, she was a royal princess and all. But there’s no way Sleeping Beauty — either before or after her nap — ever had quite the fabulous wardrobe that’s been assembled at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Noelia Voigt, who was crowned Miss USA in November 2023, has announced she is resigning from her role, saying the decision is in the best interest of her mental health.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.