Regional Transportation Strategy

If we design our communities and transportation systems in such a way that they reduce the distances driven in the region by 33% and make half our trips by walking, cycling and transit, it will benefit everyone by:

• Making travel more reliable
• Spending less time traveling and more time doing what we love
• Giving people more transportation choices 
• Helping us be more healthy and active, and reducing the burden on the healthcare system
• Making it easier to get to work and school
• Ensuring businesses can continue to grow and prosper 
• Making our roads safer 
• Making the air we breath cleaner

These actions will also help us reach our shared vision and goals.

Vision

We maintain our global position as one of the best places in the world to live because we meet our transportation needs in a way that enhances the health of our economy, people, communities and environment.

Goals

In support of this vision, we'll make transportation decisions that:

• People: foster safe and healthy communities
• Economy: enable a sustainable and resilient economy
• Environment: protect the environment
• Choice: support sustainable transportation choices

The region has changed. Living costs are higher and affordability is a major concern. More people live and work close to transit and have more travel choices. 

Thanks to billions of dollars in investment, we've added new rapid transit lines, more transit services, more bikeways, a new bridge and better roads. As a result of these changes, more people are walking, cycling and taking transit. But we still have a long way to go to ensure we keep the high quality of life in our region, with healthy communities, a clean environment and a strong economy. 

Our challenge is to get to the future that we all want in a way that we can all afford. It's critical to get people, housing, jobs and services closer together to increase affordability, create new travel choices, increase access and reduce how far we need to travel. This is a primary aim of Metro Vancouver's Regional Growth Strategy.

Projected walk, bike and transit mode share and target

To get to our future vision faster, and within the resources available, we need to sharpen our focus in three areas.

INVEST - do more with less

Significant investments are needed to expand the transportation system, to keep pace with growth, achieve our goals and meet the diverse needs of all parts of the region. Commitments on land use and pricing will play an important role in shaping investment decisions.

MANAGE - give people the tools to make choices

Public resources are scarce, so we have to maximize the value of every transportation investment from fare purchases to new rapid transit projects. To do that, we have to make informed choices about how we travel. Supportive policies like pricing, parking and restricting use to priority trips are all required to make it all work.

PARTNER - work together to make plans a reality

The location of jobs and housing determines where and how much we move around the region. To make our plans a reality, we have to work together with all levels of governments, businesses, residents and customers to increase the level of certainty around timing and scale of investments, land-use changes and policy measures. The region's goals are ambitious – we won't achieve them without these strong partnerships.

Remember the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver? We showed the world and each other how great our transportation system can work when we have the right investments, the right pricing, and, the right partnerships all aligned and working in unison. That's the vision we want to achieve and taking these key steps will help get us there.

The regional transportation strategy will be developed over four stages.

Listen (through spring 2013)
Working with municipal and regional partners, we refined the regional transportation vision, guiding principles and proposed strategies from Transport 2040. 

Prepare (through summer 2013)
We're now preparing to share our work with the Mayors' Council, Metro Vancouver and the provincial government this summer. Your input will help shape the framework.

Discuss (through fall 2013)
Using the framework confirmed in the "Prepare" phase, we'll begin identifying the investments, management and partnerships needed. We'll look at the challenges and choices before us and evaluate and discuss the possible paths forward. 

Act (through early 2014)
We'll finalize the regional transportation strategy that will guide our immediate efforts and actions. You'll have more opportunity to get involved.

We'll be posting more information on where we're at, and how you can get involved, as we progress through the stages.

We're just starting the conversation, and you'll have the opportunity to be involved at every stage of the regional transportation strategy process. 

We want to hear from you! From June 20 until July 8, 2013, an online questionnaire will be available so you can tell us what you think about the proposed vision, goals and strategic approach. Check back on June 20 to be part of the plan!