Statistics Canada Report: Dependence on cars in urban neighbourhoods - Life in metropolitan areas
Statistics Canada released a report showing that car use is on the rise, and the finger is pointed mostly at urban planning issues as the reason.
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Even though there is a growing tendency for the population to congregate in large urban centres and people have access to better public transportation services, dependence on the automobile increased between 1992 and 2005. According to data from the General Social Survey (GSS) on time use, the proportion of people aged 18 and over who went everywhere by car – as either a driver or a passenger – rose from 68% in 1992, to 70% in 1998 and then 74% in 2005.
Conversely, the proportion of Canadians who made at least one trip under their own power by bicycle or on foot appears to have declined between 1998 and 2005. In 2005, 19% of people 18 and over walked or pedalled from one place to another, down from 26% and 25% in 1992 and 1998 respectively.
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Not only is sprawl (distance from the city center) an issue, but population density is closely linked as well, with the denser neighbourhoods seeing proportionately less private automobile use.
Two of the country's largest cities - Toronto & Montreal - have among the lowest car use among metropolitan areas. Coincidentally (?) Alberta - the Texas of the North - had the two highest car-driving cities: Calgary & Edmonton.
Image source: Globe and Mail
Men: "Car good! Walk bad. Grrr!"
Even when controlling to keep all additional factors constant, men drive more than women:
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Age and sex are among the factors that have a substantial impact on the probability of driving. On the reference day in 2005, 81% of Canadian men aged 18 and over made at least one trip behind the wheel of a car. The corresponding figure for women was just 66% (Table A.1).
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In conclusion...
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A large proportion of the housing stock built since 1991 is found far from the city centre in low-density neighbourhoods. As we have seen, these are the neighbourhoods with the highest level of automobile dependence.
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http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepu...e/10503-en.htm