Slow Down; You’re Moving Too Fast

According to the 2006 Canadian census, 25.1 percent of workers in Vancouver and 16.5 percent of Vancouver-area workers take transit to work. This puts Vancouver transit in a league with San Francisco and Washington DC, and ahead of every other U.S. urban area other than New York. By comparison, according to the 2006 American Community Survey, only 12.6 percent of workers in Portland and 7.6 percent of Portland-area workers take transit to work.

So naturally, Vancouver planners want to make Vancouver more like Portland. Specifically, University of British Columbia planning professor Patrick Condon proposes that, instead of building a relatively fast subway line, Vancouver should spend billions of dollars replacing moderately fast, flexible buses with slow, inflexible streetcars. The big advantage of slower transit, says Condon, is that it would “support a long term objective to create more complete communities.” In other words, if people can’t get anywhere very fast, they will be more likely to shop within walking- or tram-distance of their homes, and so retailers and other service providers will be more likely to locate in neighborhoods throughout the city.

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