New numbers from a Capital Regional District (CRD) study show an increase in people leaving their cars behind and walking or riding their bikes for daily trips.
The data revealed a rise in active transportation, with 29 per cent of trips made by walking, cycling and transit use, up from 26.6 per cent in 2017.
Adam Krupper, executive director at Capital Bike, wants to make biking more accessible, and seeing more people deciding to hop on a bike or walk is music to his ears.
“When you take away the barriers, and you create opportunity, you create the change,” said Kupper.
“I think the municipalities have really started picking up on this over the past two or three years, and we are already seeing a huge shift.”
Krupper notes that the survey shows the average trip distance in the entire region is only 4.9 km.
“That’s a 12, maybe 15-minute bike ride, right? That’s nothing!” he said.
CRD chair Colin Plant really hopes these new numbers will help municipalities fix accessibility issues quicker so more people can use greener options to get around.
“We’re going in the right direction, but we all know that we need to do more. We actually can’t make changes in the municipalities,” said Plant.
“This research, however, will help municipalities make decisions in their region to make accessibility a priority.”
Plant added that the number of electric vehicles in the region has jumped up more than 500 per cent. In 2017, there were about 1,900 electric vehicles on the road. Now there are nearly 12,000.
The regional target is to have 45 per cent of residents leaving their cars at home by 2038.
Tchadas Leo
