Re: 鈥淏us-bike marriage: Is it time for a divorce?鈥� column, Jan. 12.
In his column on the Douglas Street bus/bike lanes, Jack Knox states that few automobile drivers are willing to switch to other transportation modes, noting the increase in insured vehicles on Vancouver Island over the past five years as evidence of this.
However, the number of vehicles on the Island is not a very accurate indicator of travel behaviour in Victoria. In fact, the Capital Regional District鈥檚 2017 travel survey indicated that, region-wide, the number of trips made by automobile drivers decreased nearly three per cent since 2011, even as the population increased 11 per cent.
Meanwhile, over the same period, the number of trips made by transit increased 25 per cent and the number of trips made by bicycle increased a whopping 96 per cent. The 2017 travel survey also found that automobile drivers accounted for just 35 per cent of all trips ending in downtown Victoria. Clearly, people who don鈥檛 drive downtown aren鈥檛 the tiny minority that some would claim.
After nearly a century of catering almost exclusively to automobiles to the detriment of our urban environment, I am glad that the city is finally starting to develop a more balanced transportation system.
Steven Murray
Victoria
