New Competition

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During the mid 1970s two single horse-drawn carriage companies (as opposed to the 20-seater Tally-Ho wagons) would open in Victoria, bringing new competition:

  • Black Beauty Line (BBL) was operated by Dan and Barb Pedrick. Dan hand-built the first carriages and trained the horses.  Barb ran the operations.  At the beginning it was just the two of them, but eventually the company grew and the welcomed new staff on board.  After various changes in ownership, BBL no longer remains in operation.
  • In 1978, Victoria Carriage Tours (VCT) was opened by Dianne Donahue. VCT has since changed hands twice.

With three companies now sharing the space the City of Victoria decided to shut down any more opportunity for new operators by naming the three companies as the only licensed operators into the Vehicles for Hire Bylaw.