QUESNEL: Winnipeg should invest in roads, not transit

Content of the article

The jury is still out in Winnipeg: Should governments spend money on roads or public transport? Well, it's new policy summary The Border Center's data suggests that the sooner governments change their views on cars, the better.

Content of the article

University of Toronto recently paper Jeff Allen and Steven Farber examine job accessibility, measured by travel time to work, in the 10 largest census metropolitan areas (CMAs) in Canada. It measures “30-minute work access,” or how many jobs can be reached within a 30-minute drive.

Content of the article

Not surprisingly, a car provides access to many jobs available within a 30-minute travel radius via transit.

In Winnipeg, approximately 144,400 residents who own a car can get to their jobs within “30 minutes,” while only 33,300 residents can get there by public transit. This means that 4.3 (430%) times more work can be achieved by car than by transit.

It should be noted that Winnipeg's access to public transit within a 30-minute commute is better than most of the 10 cities surveyed in Canada. Only Montreal and Vancouver are better.

Content of the article

Content of the article

Transit in Montreal works well with cars providing about three times as many jobs within 30 minutes as transit. On the other hand, cars provide access to about 10 times as many jobs within a 30-minute commute in Edmonton.

Unfortunately, migration trends for public transit are away from large metropolitan areas that can best support public transit. In particular, the disastrous Covid lockdowns have permanently damaged inner-city economies by accelerating the telecommuting and telecommuting phenomenon.

Many policymakers and politicians seem to ignore this unexpected disruption. They continue to support transit infrastructure, which continues to drive down ridership. Very little-used bike lanes (unusable for months in winter cities) take away the parking spaces that are the lifeblood of downtown shopping and entertainment.

Content of the article

We often see speed limits being deliberately lowered to avoid traffic. Then there's the craze for the “15-minute city,” which seeks to end mobility and reorient economic life toward denser, more self-driving, and walkable/transit-oriented microeconomies. It's all part of a “war on cars” mentality that has influenced urban design and climate-disrupted class types to try to force Canadians to make choices they resist for sustainable reasons.

Good intentions aside, forcing more Winnipeggers onto public transit that serves downtown job markets is not the solution. Despite having one of the best-designed transit systems in Canada, Winnipeg still deals with the fact that cars offer high mobility within a 30-minute commute and access to many jobs and many jobs. Never mind the safety issues on public buses and the horrific incidents of assaults on bus drivers and issues with aggressive passengers. More transit money won't solve the safety problem.

Content of the article

It is politically incorrect to say that cars will remain king.

Instead of forcing people onto buses (or worse – expensive light rail), the smartest policies to maximize broad-based economic growth and opportunity will see policymakers focus on upgrading or expanding existing road infrastructure. For example, in Winnipeg, the expansion of Route 90 and completion of the Head of Peguis Road is a clear positive for expanding job mobility, which fuels the job economy.

This “access to 30-minute job” data is a wake-up call to many politicians who remain steadfast in their anti-car policies. They go against the grain of real people making real choices who take advantage of the car's high mobility capabilities.

— Joseph Quenell is a senior fellow at the Center for Border Public Policy. www.fcpp.org

Content of the article