According to recently released data from TransLink, West Vancouverites are abandoning the single-occupancy vehicle in droves and taking to public transit. The survey shows 56.7 per cent of trips were made behind the wheel in 2017 compared to 71.8 per cent in 2011. And 14.6 per cent of trips are now aboard a bus compared to 6.5 per cent before.
In West Van, the status quo is enshrined by law. There has been no significant change in transit service between 2011 and 2017 and virtually no new development in transit oriented areas.
Frankly, we’re as confused as you are. But, in this populist age of empirical knowledge being cast aside by people hungry for alternative facts, we’ll take data over incredulity. And these stats in mode shift are very promising.
Less shocking but equally revealing is that the number of new jobs created on the North Shore in that time was 9,200, while the number of new working age residents was 2,700. We are increasingly relying on workers braving our congested bridges and transit to keep our businesses and services running.
Virtually every North Van candidate is promising to support eventual rapid transit across Burrard Inlet. It’s encouraging, although we’ll wait to see the feasibility study before endorsing it.
But if federal parties want to deliver a congestion-free future, they’ll repatriate those workers. It’s cheaper and easier to build workforce housing than bridges or tunnels. Kudos to West Van for doing their part to end North Shore gridlock. Now here’s hoping voters can do something about the gridlock in Ottawa.
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