Survey Shows that People Want to Bike and Walk More
Wheel Life column - 13 March, 1999
by Todd Litman and Suzanne Kort - Victoria Transport Policy Institute

Canadians are bicycling and walking, but not as much as we want to or should according to a recent survey. We would use non-motorized transport more frequently if only we had better roadway facilities.

Those are conclusions from the 1998 National Survey on Active Transportation sponsored by Health Canada and the "Go for Green" program (available at website http://www.goforgreen.ca, or call 1-888-UB-ACTIV). Below are some of the survey findings:

• 85% of Canadians walk and 48% cycle for leisure and recreation.
• 64% of British Columbian walk and 24% cycle for transportation.
• British Columbians walk more frequently than residents of any other provinces, but our rate of cycling for transportation is actually lower than the national average.
• 57% of Canadians own a bicycle.
• Canadians walk and cycle primarily for exercise, health, pleasure and convenience.
• 80% of British Columbians would like to walk, and 66% would like to cycle, more often.
• 84% of Canadians live within a 30-minute bicycle ride (8 km) of a routine destination, such as work, leisure, shopping, friends/family or school.
• 53% of Canadians consider cycling dangerous due to vehicle traffic. 70% say they would cycle to work, at least sometimes, if there were a dedicated bikelane that would take them to their workplace in less than 30 minutes at a comfortable pace.
• 84% of British Columbia residents support government spending on bicycle lanes and paths.

The researchers find that the key barriers are perceptions of inconvenience and lack of safety for cycling and walking. They conclude, "In this context, it should be noted that 'calls for action' without efforts to address barriers may lead to feelings of guilt and resentmentCanadians are very responsive to efforts to facilitate active transportation through social infrastructure (eg. the walking school bus, cycle to work days) and physical infrastructure (eg. bike lanes, shower facilities at work)."

How well is our community doing to take advantage of this opportunity? Well, it doesn't look good out there on the street! Sure we've seen improvements to recreational trails. The city of Saanich is to be commended for making progress on its bike route system. And the city of Victoria is implementing a few traffic calming schemes. But we are sure not seeing substantial improvements to make cycling and walking significantly safer and easier.

Let's put this into perspective. We live in the premiere climate for non-motorized travel in all of Canada. We have a population that loves outdoor activities. Regionwide, approximately 6% of total person trips are made by non-motorized modes, with higher levels closer to the urban core. Victoria is considered to have the highest rate of cycle transportation in Canada. Many elderly retirees in our communities rely on walking for transportation and exercise, and need good pedestrian facilities.

By all rights, 6% of total roadway funds should be devoted to cycling and walking facilities for transportation purposes (that is, in addition to recreation-oriented facilities) based on current levels of use, or more to take into account historical underfunding, and the fact that non-motorized transport help meets community livability, equity and transportation demand management objectives.

And what do we actually see? Much less than 1% of roadway funding is devoted to non-motorized transportation facilities. If there's one thing you can do to make our community a better place to live, it is to ask your elected officials to devote more resources to eliminating barriers to cycling and walking.