Commuting Patterns in Canada

August 11, 2008

This brief put out by BC Stats looks at the latest census data for how people across the country are getting to work. The brief also looks at whether people are adapting their daily commute to reflect such realities as climate change, air quality, and the rising cost of fuel. Among the statistics presented:

In BC there has been a 3% decline in people using a vehicle to get to work in the past 10 years, from 81% in 1996 to 79% in 2006;
In Canada younger people are more likely to use public transit: 16.6% use transit between the age of 15-25 and just 7.2% of those over 65;
2% of commuters in BC bike to work; national average is 1%;
Of the CMAs, Victoria and Vancouver have among the lowest percentage of car commuters (71.7% for Victoria, 74% for Vancouver) and Abbotsford has the highest percentage of car commuters than any other CMA at 93%.