Smart Commute Statistics Library

Cycling

65% of people who ride to work are male, and 35% are female in Toronto. 58% of

people who ride a bicycle to work are between the ages of 25 to 441

Cycling is also more common among people who live closer to downtown2 Toronto has the highest bicycle mode share (1.7%) The average bicycle mode share across Canada is 1.3%3

Three hours of cycling may reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke by 50. Annual cost of operating a bike is 2.5% that of a car %4

On a bicycle you can travel up to 1,037 km on energy equivalent to a litre of gas5 20 bicycles parked up at one spot takes up the same amount of space as one car 6 19% of cyclist that said their commute to work was their most pleasant activity of their day compared to only 2% of drivers felt the same7

The overall bike share of work trips is currently three times higher in Canada than in USA (1.2 vs. 0.4% from 1990-2000) 8

Women who bike more then 30 minutes a day have a lower risk of getting breast

cancer 9

On a round trip commute to work of 10 miles a cyclist saves approx. $10/day10 For every I mile being pedaled instead of driven, around 1 pound of CO is being

saved. 11

The average cyclist has only 1 accident every 8.7 years12 Adolescents who bicycle are 48% less likely to be overweight as adults.13

The average household spends $7,179 per year on owning and driving their cars.14

Telewor k

Studies find correlation between the length of one's commute and how stressful their day is

GTA traffic congestion costs the local economy approximately $6 billion a year

Average GTA round-trip commute is longer than anywhere else in North American at 80 minutes

One public transit bus can take 40 cars off the road and remove 168 tonnes of pollutants from the air each year

53% of Canadian workers want a work-from-home option to avoid long commutes and increase productivity, according to a recent Workopolis survey

About 1.5 million Canadians work from home, at least occasionally (Canadian Telework Association and InnoVisions Canada) If 1 million teleworkers were to work at home just 1 day each week, in a year, Canada would save 250 million kg of CO2 emissions; 100 million litres of fuel; and 800 million fewer kilometres of mileage on our highways and streets. We would save $40 million in fuel costs, and 50 million hours of time, to spend with our families, or on our non-work lives. (http://www.ivc.ca/cleanair/index.htm) Ability to balance work and personal life is the most critical factor in employee decisions to stay with their jobs 15 Can have a saving of over $35 million on office space16 Telecommuting by the numbers

1.4 million: Number of employees who worked at home in 2000 1.8 million: Number of employees who worked at home in 2008 11.2 per cent: Percentage of the Canadian work force who worked at home in 2008 Source: Statistics Canada

Carpoolin g
The average vehicle owner spends between $8,500 and $11,000 annually on ownership and operating costs, carpooling splits those costs among drivers17 car.18 Carpooling can promote a feeling of community by having companions in the

143 carpools that were formed reduced annual GHG emissions by 854 tonnes.19

Constructing one parking space can cost between $1,500 and $22,000, depending on the type of parking facility. Average annual operating costs can run from $500 to $800 per space.

Overall transportation represents the largest single source of Canadas greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 27% of the total.20

51% of people who carpool with a family member21 $1.1 billion saved by carpooling every year22 56,000 miles avoided traffic every year by carpooling23

20% of traffic that would die down if everyone carpooled once a week of traffic that would die down if everyone carpooled once a week24 HOV lane users save about one minute per mile during peak rush-hour time periods.25 The typical one-way commute from home to work increased from 7.0 km to 7. 6km.26 The automobile dominates Canadian commuting (72.3% of work trips)27 The cost of congestion in urban areas ranges from $2.3 billion to $3.7 billion per year.28
Every single day, 70 million tons of carbon dioxide is released into our world's atmosphere.29

Population

Markham is the 16th largest municipality with 301, 709, increase more then 15 percent in the last 5 years. Canadas current population increased rose 5.9 percent to 33, 476, 688 and Ontario is at 12, 851,821 York Region has increased by 16 percent to 1, 032,524 from 892,712. Population of Vaughn is at 288,301 growing at 20.7 per cent. Richmond Hill is the 26th largest municipality at 185,541 which rose 14 per cent. Whitchurch-Stouffville is 3rd fastest growing municipality in Canada. Grew 54.3 per cent to 37, 628 since 2006

Road Tolls

Polls by the Toronto Board of Trade have shown more then 60 per cent of the respondents are prepared pay to use the roads. TBOT has also agreed that the GTA roads have taken a crisis point. Another poll by Angus Reid said 34% of Torontonians moderately support while 18% strongly support the idea. Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance estimates in the next 20 years around 2 million people and 1 million cars will move into the Golden Horseshoe area.

If nothing is done in next 35 years the costs of congestion will grow from $6 billion to $15 billion. Metrolinx estimates it will need $50 billion in the next 25 years for transportation improvements. Planning to use York Region to test the effectiveness of the tolls, representatives were open to the idea but hesitant to accept too much change. Highway 401 is the 3rd busiest highway in North America. Proposal will free up millions of dollars for transit and road repairs and lower police, judicial and health costs due to a decrease of car accidents which annually cost $17 billion.

Public Transit

Roughly 82% of commuters traveled to work by car, while 12% took public transit and 6% walked or bicycled.30 68% of Canadian households have access to public transit within five minutes of their home, 41% used it regularly.

City of Toronto: Cycling in Toronto. 2 Apr. 2008. <http://www.toronto.ca/cycling/reports/statistics/statistics.htm>

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Ibid Ibid Bikes Belong, 2008 University of Aberdeen, Facts on Cycling, 2007 Ibid Making the Case for Active Transportation. Health Benefits Pucher and Renne, 2004. & Statistics Canada, 2003 (Luoto, R., et al., 2000) Commute Solutions, 2011 Environmental Protection Agency, 2009 Bikes Belong, 2012 Menschik, D, et al., 2008 Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 2010 Towers Perrin, Feb 2008 IBM Canada, early 90S The Canadian Automobile Association, 2007 Anecdotal evidence Calgary's carpooling initiative, 2003 Environment Canada Commuter Solutions, Green Living, 2012 Ibid Ibid ibid CalTrans, 2007 Statistics Canada. 2001 Transport Canada.2006 Ibid

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InstantCarpool.2012

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Canadian Social Trends. 2010