Commuting Patterns

Definition

Percentage of people who use public transit, active transit (e.g. walking or cycling), or an automobile (e.g., car, truck, van), either as a driver or passenger, to get to work

Why This Matters

Transportation is an unavoidable part of our daily lives whether we are going to work, school, or social gatherings. Extensive use of motorized transportation (i.e. cars, vans, trucks) affects human and environmental well-being. Convenient and well-designed access to automobile alternatives (e.g., public transit, walking paths and bike paths) can decrease reliance on automobiles and result in a variety of benefits for the environment, community and citizens.

According to Statistics Canada (2006), motorized transportation produced nearly 75 per cent of Canada’s total carbon monoxide emissions in 2004. Additionally, it produced more than 50 per cent of nitrogen oxide emissions and more than 25 per cent of volatile organic compounds, both of which impact human health effects and affect the natural environment (Statistics Canada, 2006; World Bank, 1999).

This indicator is closely connected to the built environment. The attractiveness of different modes of transportation depends heavily on the design of transportation networks and urban planning (Ewing, Meakins, Bjarnson, & Hilton, 2011; Ewing & Cervero, 2001). Urban design can significantly influence the level to which residents are dependent upon automobiles (Zhang, 2006). When multiple convenient options are facilitated (e.g. public transit, active transit), automobile use is likely to decrease.

Measurement and Limitations

The commuting patterns indicator shows the percentage of people who use public transit, active transit (e.g. walking or cycling), or an automobile (e.g., car, truck, van), either as a driver or passenger, to get to work. All members of the labour force aged 15 years and over who worked at some time over the previous year are included.

This indicator does not take into account individual variation in the mode of transportation taken to work. For instance, an individual who drives a car to work 60 per cent of the time and takes public transit 40 per cent of the time would only be recorded as commuting by automobile. This indicator also does not account for transportation used for outings not related to work.

Additionally, this indicator does not take into account differences in distance. An individual driving 5 kilometres to work is not differentiated from an individual who drives 15.

Data Source

Statistics Canada collects this data for each census year. Data is provided for Community Characterization Areas by Statistics Canada via Winnipeg’s Community Data Program Consortium.

More detail about this indicator can be found in Peg’s 2019 Our City Report on the Natural and Built Environment.

Data is updated on Peg as it becomes available from the data providers.

References

Ewing, R., & Cervero, R. (2001). Travel and the built environment: A synthesis. Transportation Research Board of the National Academies. 1780, 87-114.

Ewing, R., Meakins, G., Bjarnson, G., & Hilton, H. (2011). Transportation and land use. Making Healthy Places, part III, 149-169.

Statistics Canada. (2006). Human activity and the environment: Annual statistics 2006. Statistics Canada, 2006. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/16-201-x/16-201-x2006000-eng.pdf

World Bank. (1999). Pollution prevention and abatement handbook. Washington, http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/ World Bank. Retrieved from https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/115011ba-26ca-4166-8cc4-a0655d355d08/PPAH.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=ROOTWORKSPACE-115011ba-26ca-4166-8cc4-a0655d355d08-jqeAFFh

Zhang, M. (2006). Travel choice with no alternative: Can land use reduce automobile dependence? Journal of Planning Education and Research, 25(3), 311-326.