New data from our 2023 Trip Diary is now available and it shows a post-pandemic shift away from driving with a move towards walking and cycling.

You might be wondering what a Trip Diary is? It’s essentially a transportation census, where we do a deep-dive into travel patterns throughout Metro Vancouver.

We surveyed 56,000 people across the region and used that information to estimate travel patterns for an average day in the fall of 2023. The survey found that compared to 2017 (the last time we did a Trip Diary), Metro Vancouver saw 37,000 fewer driving trips, and 535,000 more walking or cycling trips on an average weekday.

The results are now available online through a data visualization tool, which gives insight into trips for the region as a whole and for each municipality. The data shows number of trips, modes of transportation used, trip lengths, purposes, origins, destinations, time of day, and demographics.

Key findings include:

• Roughly 8.8 million total trips were taken on an average weekday in the fall of 2023 across all modes of transportation.
• While the region’s population has increased by 13 per cent between 2017 and 2023, total trips only increased by 9.5 per cent.
• More than 30 per cent of all trips were taken through a sustainable mode of transportation (transit, walking, or cycling).
• Transit trips taken were consistent, meaning transit use in fall 2023 had recovered to 2017 levels.
• Vehicle kilometres travelled throughout the region went down by 5.2 per cent, largely because of shorter trips being taken.

Trip Diary data is collected by TransLink and shared with the Government of British Columbia, regional municipalities, and stakeholders. These insights help to inform decisions made at all levels of government, and tracks progress towards sustainable mode-share targets.