That's some good news from the latest census data. However, there is some other data to temper that finding.
In what some observers believe could be a turning point for the country, Statistics Canada says that for the first time since it started studying how Canadians get to work in 1996, a smaller percentage of us were making the trip behind the wheel.
It may appear to be a small decline. But the 2006 census data yesterday showing the percentage of Canadians who drive to work at 72.3 per cent, down from 73.8 per cent in 2001, is a departure from a century-long trend of increasing automobile use. The numbers also show gains for public transit, carpooling and cycling.
"A reversal in the long-term historical trend ... is, I think, firmly in place now," said Michael Roschlau, head of the Canadian Urban Transit Association. "...To me, this is really groundbreaking information."
However, the numbers released yesterday also contain some of the bad news commuters have been used to hearing. For instance, the median distance travelled each day to work continues to rise, hitting 7.6 kilometres in 2006, up from 7.2 in 2001 and 7.0 in 1996.
Also, in raw numbers, Canada's roads still had 714,900 more cars heading to work in 2006 than in 2001, a 7.2-per-cent increase. (That's down sharply from the increase between 1996 and 2001, when just under one million new cars were added.)
Now, here's the reality-check part:
Optimism at these shifts was tempered by other numbers released yesterday. More Canadians were commuting to workplaces in the sprawling suburbs of major cities, away from established public transit networks.
These workers were more likely to drive.
Over all, 5.9 per cent more people were working in "central municipalities" in 2006, according to Statscan, while the number of people working in suburban municipalities grew twice as quickly, at 12.2 per cent.
Leading the pack among large municipalities was Vaughan, Ont., on Toronto's northern boundary, which had 22.2-per-cent job growth since 2001. The number for Surrey, B.C., near Vancouver, grew by 17 per cent, and for Laval, outside Montreal, by 15.8 per cent. Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute said it is important not to overstate the significance of the shift away from the car. "Keep in mind that for most of the last century, the trend was pretty steady in terms of increasing automobile travel," said Mr. Litman, whose B.C. hometown leads the country in cycling and walking, according to yesterday's census data. "[Car use has] pretty much levelled off in most developed countries, due to, essentially, saturation."
Here's Statistics Canada's 2006 census report on commuting.
Personally, I have about a 25-kilometre hike up to CTV in Agincourt every day. This takes about 75 minutes one way. I have to make three -- count 'em - three -- transfers along the way.
By doing my part to keep cars off the road, I probably spend 80 or 90 minutes of my life each working day in transit that I would have back if I drove (my hours are non-standard, so I can avoid gridlock).
However, a bus pass is $109 per month, while owning a vehicle costs an average of about $600 per month.
That's the trade-off, although I can also award myself an imaginary climate good-citizen badge for not pumping emissions into the air as I carve out more time for myself.