Turns out we do use those bike lanes… a lot!
Census data shows that Victorians bicycle or walk to commute to and from their work more than any other metropolitan city in Canada.
According to Statistics Canada’s latest census in 2021, more than 15% of workers aged 15-years-old and over walk or bike as their main method of daily transportation. Of that percentage, 5% are cyclists.
To give that figure context, the next highest walking and cycling metro region in Canada was Kingston, Ontario. Their percentage of walkers and bikers was close to 8%, with only approximately 2% of those people riding a bicycle on their commute.
Vancouver, Kelowna and Nanaimo are also in the top 10 cities for cycling and walking on their commute, making BC the top province for non-driving commuters.
When the 14 municipalities that make up Greater Victoria were compared, Victoria proper came out on top when it comes to biking and walking on the daily commute.
Not surprising when looking at this chart is that rural municipalities that don’t have bike lanes and are further from the downtown core do not commute by biking or walking as much as those that are closer and do have the infrastructure.
In 2019, Canadian real estate firm, Redfin, used a bike scoring tool to determine which cities are most accessible to cyclists in the country which also shows Victoria is ranked number one as most bikeable cities in Canada. Vancouver and Montreal were similarly in the top five along with us.
Victoria’s all ages and abilities (AAA) bike routes are ever-expanding, making the city a constant competitor in holding the title of the most bikeable city in Canada.
The City of Victoria’s pilot program for a bike valet at Centennial Square will also surely effect the number of people who commute by bike since the last census.
