Vancouver has reached a milestone in its quest to be the greenest city in Canada, recording half of trips being done by walking, cycling and transit.

On Tuesday transportation officials released data that shows that, while the car may still be king, it is declining in importance. In 2014, there was an estimated 918,000 daily trips by automobile, down from 980,000 daily in 2013.

At the same time, the total number of daily trips by people on transit, by foot and on bicycle rose from 893,000 to 905,000. Much of that came from a 20-per-cent increase in cycling from 2013 to 2014.

That puts the alternative forms of transportation in a statistical dead heat with the automobile, according to Jerry Dobrovolny, Vancouver’s director of transportation.

Coupled with the decline in daily auto trips, the number of kilometres travelled by vehicles has declined by 21 per cent since 2007. That, according to Dobrovolny, means the city has surpassed targets set under the city’s Greenest City Action Plan and Transportation 2040 goals of reducing vehicle trips by 20 per cent.

The changeover comes as Vancouver continues to push an agenda of trying to get most people out of their cars and into other forms of transportation by 2020. But despite the gains in cycling — doubling to 100,000 trips a day in 2014 from 50,000 in 2008 — the city continues to be challenged in one area, transit.

Transit growth in Vancouver is flat, largely because of a lack of investment in heavily-travelled corridors such as Broadway, Dobrovolny told council.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson used that news for a last-minute appeal for people to vote Yes in the regional transit referendum, which ends May 29.

“It is unfortunate to see transit flatline. Without new transit dollars we’re unlikely to see transit grow and we were expecting to see that carry the can for success,” Robertson told The Vancouver Sun. “Clearly we need to invest more in transit, and that is why we need have a Yes vote in the referendum.”

Robertson said it was clear from watching cyclists on streets and the seawall that bicycling has risen in popularity and that it validates the investment in infrastructure the city has made.

In a companion report to council on bike and pedestrian safety, transportation planners say they’re recording fewer accidents per capita in cycling, largely because people are becoming accustomed to seeing bikes on the road. On average there are about 500 bicycle collisions a year Dobrovolny said. But statistically, the percentage is dropping as the number of cyclists grows and the number of accidents stays the same.

Vancouver is one of the safest cities in North America for cycling, ranking ahead of generally bike-friendly places like Portland, Minneapolis, Montreal and San Francisco, and far ahead of dangerous places like New York and Chicago. But Dobrobvolny said much more work needs to be done to educate drivers and cyclists about sharing the road. Although peoples’ anecdotal evidence may suggest otherwise, in more than 90 per cent of all accidents involving bicycles, the cyclist had the right of way.

So-called doorings, in which cyclists plow into a car door as it is opened, account for 15 per cent accidents involving bicycles and vehicles, according to the Insurance Corp. of B.C. Another 15 per cent occur in left-turn situations, and 13 per cent in right turns. More than one in 10 accidents involve collisions in lanes and driveways.

Collisions with vehicles account for half of all injuries incurred by cyclists, and nearly all fatalities, Dobrovolny said.

The city says it is next going to look at improving bike access in high-traffic, high-conflict areas such as the Broadway, Commercial and Main Street corridors. Although there are well-used bike routes adjacent to Broadway, accidents and conflicts are taking place along Broadway itself. Dobrovolny said the city isn’t planning at this time to put in separated lanes or other safety measures but wants to study how to best reduce the conflicts.

Coun. Heather Deal, who said she had been in a serious accident as a cyclist when someone opened their door, applauded the city’s efforts to improve safety.

But not everyone was happy with the report. Coun. George Affleck wanted to know whether Vancouver police are handing out tickets to cyclists for speeding, not wearing a helmet and blowing past stop signs. He was unhappy that no one from VPD was at council to answer his questions.

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