Vancouver considers doing what no North American city has done so far
Metro Vancouver's growing population is expected to add 600,000 vehicles to its roads by 2040. Photo by Valentina / Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)
By Rachel Jansen
In the months leading up to the pandemic, Adam Vajda, 29, and Daniel Vickers, 30, had similar morning routines.
After several clicks of the snooze button, they woke up and spent 15 minutes eating and drinking coffee before rushing out the door to their jobs in downtown Vancouver. When it came to their commutes, however, the similarities ended.
Vajda, who lives in Vancouver, could zip to work on his bike in 15 minutes, whereas Vickers, who lived in North Delta at the time, bashed his way through morning rush hour for 80 minutes to reach the city.
Vickers’ daily battle with traffic is not unusual and, if nothing changes, is set to worsen. By 2040, a whopping one million more people are projected to move to Metro Vancouver, with an expected increase of 600,000 vehicles on the roads. There is more than just stress associated with congestion: as Canada's National Observer has reported, air pollution from fossil fuels is linked to one in five deaths worldwide. Given these health statistics and our growing awareness of the need to cut carbon emissions, is it possible the concept of mobility pricing may finally gain traction?
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