More than 90 per cent of respondents in a recent Surrey road survey said they drove their own vehicle to work, which is up from 2018.
The Surrey Board of Trade released the results of its fourth annual Surrey Road Survey at Thursday’s (Feb. 6) 2020 Economic Forecast Lunch.
“In this annual road survey, the message is clear,” said Anita Huberman, CEO of SBOT. “We need planning and action that anticipates population growth and ensure that continued investment in our roads as well as utilizing innovative transit technologies throughout all of Surrey.”
This year’s conclusions, according to a release from SBOT, show that respondents want the on- and off-ramps from bridges widened; to plan “all major” infrastructure projections to anticipate needs that result in infrastructure construction “well in advance of increased demand, not long after the capacity is exceeded”; and that all levels of government work together to develop an “inter-regional South Fraser Economic Transportation Plan that would “not be subject to election cycles but based on best transportation practices and needs.”
In the survey, 92.9 per cent of respondents said they drove their own vehicle to work. That’s up from 81.3 per cent in 2018 and 87.1% in 2016, but it’s comparable to 92.6 per cent in 2017.
With that, only 1.8 per cent of respondents said they walked to work, which is down from 4.4 per cent in 2018.
Fifty-three per cent of respondents live and work in Surrey, which has “remained comparable to all levels since 2016.” However, 23.5 per cent work in Surrey, but live south of the Fraser. That’s comparable to data since 2016.
Surrey-Langley SkyTrain project director Jeff Busby recently said that people in Surrey drive 11 million kilometres per day in single-occupant vehicles.
“This is 64 per cent more vehicle kilometres than residents drive in Vancouver, even though Surrey is three-quarters of the size. Because the trips in Surrey are very long and they don’t have the type of transportation alternatives, it means that it’s difficult to get around without a car,” Busby said in a Jan. 24 technical briefing for the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension.
READ ALSO: Surrey tops list of most delayed, congested TransLink bus routes, Oct. 21, 2019
READ ALSO: Surrey RCMP reveal top-10 worst intersections for crashes, June 12, 2019
According to the survey, the top three corridors requiring attention are: arterial widening to five lanes on Fraser Highway between Whalley Boulevard, including through Green Timbers (52.2 per cent); South Surrey/Highway 99 interchanges at 24th, 32nd and 152nd Avenues (53.9 per cent); and widening 152nd street between 40th and 50th avenues (43.5 per cent).
The top three intersections requiring attention are: 64th Avenue and 168th Street (40.2 per cent); 24th Avenue and 156th Street (31.6 per cent); and improvements for Fraser Highway and 184th Street (32.1 per cent).
When it came to transit, 66.4 per cent of respondents rated rapid transit on Fraser Highway (City Centre to Langley) from “should have” to “definitely need it.” While 66 per cent rated later bus service on selected routes from “should have” to “definitely need it” and 63.9 per cent rated new bus service to neighbourhood not currently served by transit from “should have” to “definitely need it.”
READ ALSO: Business case for Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension, Jan. 24, 2020
READ ALSO: TransLink mayor’s council approve Surrey-Langley SkyTrain business case, Jan. 30, 2020
As for ride-sharing, 63.5 respondents wanted the service without pick-up location restrictions.But for bike-sharing, 59.7 per cent of respondents said they would be “very unlikely” to cycle to work if the city had bike-sharing and 12.3 per cent said they would be “very likely” to “somewhat likely” to use the service.
Read the full report at businessinsurrey.com/news.
READ ALSO: Surrey council approves $360M Congestion Relief Strategy to speed up traffic, July 24, 2018
lauren.collins@surreynowleader.com
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