City pleased with increased cycling to work, but transit dips a bit

Despite the rather small jump in people biking to work compared to two years ago, the City of Calgary is calling it a pleasant surprise.

Census data shows 1.75 per cent of the population bikes to work, an increase of 1,400 from 2014.

Manager of Transportation Strategies, Chris Blaschuk, pointed out the percentages for communities with bike lanes in them hasn’t been tabulated yet.

“From 2011 to 2014, we did see improvements in bikes as a travel option, where it did tend to be reflective of where there had been infrastructure improvements,” Blaschuk explained. “Once we have the community data, we’d be able to determine if that’s happening in those downtown communities.”

Around 16 per cent take the transit to work, a minor decrease from the previous year and Blaschuk offered a possible explanation.

“The number could be reflective of the services ability to keep up with growth in some parts of Calgary, so there’s are factors that affect how much people want to use transit in terms of going to work,” he said.

He added what the goal is for all travel trips.

“A long-term goal for that is 15 to 20 per cent, adding an increase in service and infrastructure would bring those numbers up.

Driving alone to work is still the main mode of transportation at 67 per cent.

Here is a full break down:

Driving alone: 67 per cent – 260,999 people
Transit: 16.34 per cent – 63,616 people
Walking: 4.03 per cent – 19,108 people
Carpool as driver: 3.87 per cent – 14,999 people
Work from home: 2.66 per cent – 10,317
Carpool or taxi as passenger: 2.26 percent – 8,749 people
Bicycle: 1.75 per cent

Note: Total counts for mode transportation will not equal total number of employed.