City commuters prefer driving to work, data shows
Even as the city continues to invest in cycling, transit and pedestrian infrastructure, Calgary commuters still overwhelmingly prefer driving to the office, according to new census data.
More than two-thirds (261,000) of those who filled out the 2016 census said they drove alone to work daily, with those who take city transit coming in a distant second, with 63,616 (16.41 per cent) choosing to take a bus or the CTrain.
Since the city began collecting data on preferred transportation modes for workers in 2011, the percentage of those choosing to drive solo to work has only dropped by just over two per cent.
Coun. Brian Pincott said the city still struggles with the high percentage of commuters, but he’s hoping investment into alternative modes will pay off in the near future.
“This remains one of our biggest challenges, and it remains a big challenge for our budget,” he said.
“The goal, to me, is to get to a place in Calgary where owning a car is a choice, not a necessity. And we’re not there yet.”
While nearly 4,000 more people ride their bikes to work every day compared to 2011, it still represents only 1.75 per cent of the population. An additional 2,000 people walked to work daily over the past five years, but the ratio of pedestrians taking to other modes of transportation has actually ebbed slightly.
Car pooling has seen a significant jump, with nearly 24,000 people daily either driving or being a passenger, representing a combined 6.13 per cent of commuters.
As a city committee debated a contentious Bus Rapid Transit line for southwest Calgary on Wednesday, Pincott said he hopes investment made by council today will start narrowing the gap between single vehicle drivers and other types of transportation in the future.
“I would suspect we will start seeing that change over the next decade,” he said.
“More and more young adults are choosing not to have vehicles, and the (southwest) BRT is a prime example of things we need to have available for those people.”