New Transit Stats released today:
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Two studies released this morning by TransLink are looking at how we get around the Lower Mainland...and habits are changing. But TransLink hopes they'll change even more.
The study shows the number of car trips has dropped more than four per cent since 2004, while transit trips have increased 16 per cent in the same time period. TransLink says this means it can achieve its goal of reducing single-occupant vehicle trips to fewer than half of all trips by 2040. The current number is 56 per cent.
TransLink's Drew Snider says the studies also validate planning done in the sub-region south of the Fraser River, where commuters for years have complained about bus service. "Increasingly, it (ridership) is going from one point south of the Fraser to another point south of the Fraser. Surrey within Surrey, Surrey to Langley, Surrey to Delta, that sort of thing. So, what we've been doing to address that has been increasing as much as we can service within that area."
A second study released today compares Metro Vancouver transit usage to other cities. For example, while 16.6 per cent of commuters here take transit, the number is over 22 per cent in Toronto. Montreal and Ottawa are also ahead of Greater Vancouver by significant margins.
However, Snider says comparing Metro Vancouver to those centres is difficult because our urban sprawl is different and those other cities have older, more developed transit systems.
http://www.news1130.com/news/local/artic...change-in-ridership-numbers-and-patterns