The Future on Two Wheels

October 29, 2012

TransLink survey says: more people are biking than ever

As the semi-annual Bike to Work Week kicks off, the latest TransLink Trip Diary Survey confirms that more and more people are using the two-wheeler to do just that.

According to data collected in the fall of 2011, approximately 106,500 trips per day were taken by bike and 55 per cent of them were to and from work. Cycling has also increased its mode share to 1.8 per cent – its highest level yet.

Key Regional Highlights

The number of bike trips has grown faster than the Metro Vancouver population
• The total number of bike-only trips increased 26 per cent between 2008 and 2011, from 84,300 to 106,500; while the regional population increased 5.8 per cent from 2,186,200 to 2,313,000.
o Notably, the number of bike trips in the City of Vancouver increased by 35%
• 55% of bike trips were to and from work

Bikes are integrating into the transportation network
• As well as the 106,500 trips taken entirely by bike, another 6,200 trips combine cycling with other transportation modes:
o 65% connecting with transit
o 18% connected with a car as the driver
o 13% connected with a car as the passenger
• People who cycle are making use of TransLink’s multi-modal system in which:
o All buses are equipped with bike racks
o Bikes may be brought onto SkyTrain or West Coast Express (with restrictions as to the number of bikes per car and time of day)
o Lockers are available at most SkyTrain stations and many park-and-ride facilities

Who cycles?
• 75% of people who bike are between the ages of 25 & 64; that age group makes up 62% of the general population
• Men are still more likely than women to ride, representing 71% of people who cycle
•  Experience with other cities shows women are more likely to ride bikes where there are networks of traffic-protected bikeways.
• Region-wide, there were 4.9 bike trips per 100 residents per day.
o Vancouver (combined with University Endowment Lands) had the highest rate of bike use: 12.1 trips per 100 residents
 Heaviest concentrations of bike use are neighbourhoods along the Broadway Corridor and Strathcona-Commercial Drive.
o Richmond/Delta: 3.4 trips per 100 residents
o North Shore: 2.8 trips per 100 residents
o Burnaby/New Westminster: 2.6 trips per 100 residents
o Langley/Surrey/White Rock: 1.7 trips per 100 residents
o Northeast Sector: 1.7 trips per 100 residents

Untapped cycling potential
• The region’s vision, as articulated by the Regional Cycling Strategy,is a 10% cycling mode share by 2040
• 22% of commute trips by an auto driver were shorter than 5 km, and many of these trips could be converted to bicycle
• TransLink market research from 2010 indicates that nearly 50% of people in the region cycle sometimes, with 25% of people cycling at least once week in at least one season and another 22% cycling at least once a year.

This growth in cycling is significant and likely resulted from a combination of factors including socio-demographic and economic shifts as well as regional efforts to move towards a more transit-oriented region and make significant investments in the transportation system. TransLink is responsible for cycling infrastructure, co-funding and designing bike routes around the region, like the Central Valley Greenway, BC Parkway and the Canada Line bike/pedestrian bridge.

The 2011 trip diary survey includes information about close to 22,000 households. It provides a snapshot of passenger travel patterns and tracks the weekday trip-making behaviour of a random sample of local residents on a 24-hour basis. It is the most comprehensive source of information on overall travel patterns in the region, and is used as a foundation for many transportation decisions made by TransLink and municipalities across Metro Vancouver. The findings from the survey will inform the coming conversation about updating the regional transportation strategy, and how the people who live in Metro Vancouver want to address the transport needs of our growing communities.

A briefing paper containing regional information from the 2011 trip diary survey is attached to this release, and can also be found online along with a video on how biking integrates with Metro Vancouver’s transportaion system at The Buzzer Blog.