Travel to Work

How Patterns of Travel to Work Have Changed

The Census gives us valuable information about travel to work, including where people travel to and from. Vancouver has a high proportion of jobs held by the city’s residents, and this has increased in recent years. In 2006, of the 378,000 people estimated to work in Vancouver around 214,000 or 57% were Vancouver residents. This is an increase from 1991 when Vancouver residents only filled 53% of the jobs.

Source: Statistics Canada, 2006 Census Data

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For more information on how numbers and patterns of travel have changed since 1971, view Travel Patterns - 1971 to 2006 (1.36mb).

In 2006, about 43% of people who worked in Vancouver lived outside the city (162,000 people). This is an increase of only 12,500 more from 1991 (and a fall from 47% of jobs being held by people living outside the city). The number of commuters from Surrey, Delta and White Rock only increased by around 3,000 in 15 years, while the number travelling from the North Shore to Vancouver decreased by around 3,000 over this same period.

As the region has grown, and the number of jobs has grown with it, the number of Vancouver residents travelling to other locations in Metro Vancouver to work has risen steadily. Burnaby/New Westminster and Richmond had the highest number of commuters from Vancouver in 2006 and commuters have increased by 50% since 1981, reflecting the high growth in employment in these areas. The number travelling to the University Endowment Lands has also more than doubled to over 10,000. Altogether in 2006 about 94,000 Vancouver residents travelled out of the city each day for work in other parts of Metro Vancouver which is 26,000 more than in 1991.

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How Workers Travel to Work in Vancouver: 1996 to 2006

The Census provides information on how people travel to work. From 1996 to 2006, almost all the growth in people travelling to jobs in Vancouver has been by transit, biking or walking and there was virtually no increase in car travel. The changes in methods of travel to work during this ten year period were:

• Transit use increased from 26% to 29% (at least 15,000 more people)
• Walking increased from 8% to 11%
• Cycling increased from 2% to 3% of journeys to work, and
• Driving fell from 56% to 50% of journeys to work.

Having 50% of employees driving to work in Vancouver may seem like a high proportion, but it is the lowest proportion of drivers of all Canadian cities. People travelling to jobs in downtown showed similar changes.

From 1996 to 2006, the downtown added significant jobs (from 40% to 43% of the city’s jobs). Changes to travel work method during this period were:

• Transit use increased from 38% to 41% (over 10,000 more people)
• Walking increased from 10% to 14%
• Cycling increased from 2% to 3%, and
• Driving fell from 43% to 36% (the absolute numbers driving remained about the same)

The increase of walking and biking to work from 14,000 to 22,000 was closely related to the significant addition of new housing downtown. In 2006, 74% of people who lived and worked on the downtown peninsula walked to work.

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How Downtown Vancouver Residents Who Work Downtown, Travelled to Work

Source: Statistics Canada, Census Data 1996 and 2006 (Custom data order for the City of Vancouver)

Note: In 1996 there were 15,330 downtown resident (54% of all downtown residents) working in the downtown peninsula. In 2006 there were 21,675 downtown residents working in the downtown. For this analysis workers with a known place of work were included but, residents that work from home or have no fixed work place were not included.

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How Vancouver Residents Travel to Work in Vancouver: 1996 to 2006

Travel choices to work by Vancouver residents show similar positive trends towards sustainable transportation methods. Changes to travel work method from 1996 to 2006 included:

• Transit use increased slightly from 24% to 25%
• Walking increased from 11% to 12%
• Cycling increased from 3% to 4%
• Driving fell from 55% to 51%

The combined proportion of Vancouver residents walking and biking to work is greater than any other Canadian city and appears to be higher than any other equivalent sized or larger US city.

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Traffic Counts: Vehicles Entering the City

Traffic counts of vehicles entering the city show that traffic in the peak hours has changed little over the last twenty five years. This is extraordinary when you consider that the city added 83,000 jobs and 164,000 residents in that 25 year period. Traffic outside the peak periods grew by 39% between 1981 and 1991, but since 1996 has fallen consistently. New trips to and within Vancouver have been increasingly accommodated on transit, bike, and walk modes. This trend is in contrast to the rest of the region where vehicle use has generally increased.

Traffic Entering Vancouver: 1981 to 2006

Vehicles Entering the City
Year of Traffic Count	Morning Peak (7 am to 9am)	Evening Peak (4 pm to 6 pm)	Rest of the day	All day
1981	62,000	44,000	212,000	318,000
1986	66,000	47,000	235,000	348,000
1991	75,000	60,000	294,000	429,000
1996	69,000	60,000	304,000	433,000
2001	62,000	56,000	280,000	398,000
2006	58,000	53,000	270,000	381,000

Source: City of Vancouver, Engineering Department

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Traffic Counts: Vehicles Entering Downtown

Counts of traffic entering the downtown show that traffic volumes have not changed over twenty five years, (although they increased and then fell again over the period). This is despite an additional 25,000 jobs and 45,000 residents being located on the downtown peninsula.

Traffic Entering Downtown Vancouver: 1981 to 2006

Vehicles Entering Downtown
Year of Traffic Count	Morning Peak (7 am to 9am)	Evening Peak (4 pm to 6 pm)	Rest of the day	All day
1981	38,000	29,000	161,000	227,000
1986	40,000	29,000	164,000	233,000
1991	40,000	32,000	181,000	254,000
1996	40,000	32,000	182,000	255,000
2001	39,000	32,000	170,000	240,000
2006	38,000	32,000	165,000	227,000

Source: City of Vancouver, Engineering Department

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