It’s no surprise that housing is very expensive in Metro Vancouver, but did you know that in some parts of our region, transportation is even more expensive?
That’s just one of the results from Metro Vancouver latest Housing and Transportation Cost Burden Study Update. They found that on average, families that have no vehicles spend $2,530 a year on transportation, families that have single car spend $13,798, and families that have two or more cars spend $30,815. So by going from two cars to one, or from one cars to none, your family could save over $10,000 a year! It’s pretty staggering.
Our Executive Director Denis Agar was interviewed by the Vancouver Sun a few days ago to talk about exactly this, and how expanding and improving the transit network stands to save people both money and time. When transit is slow and unreliable, people are more likely to opt for a personal vehicle, even if it costs a lot of money. In Metro Vancouver it often takes three times longer to transit than to drive. By making transit faster and more reliable, it becomes a viable transportation option for more people, and they can save a lot of money by choosing transit over driving.
The high cost of living puts a strain on so many families. Luckily, transit improvements like bus lanes are very cheap since they only require signs and paint!
Read the full Vancouver Sun article here.