V
ancouver is a city that
enjoys basking in its
own press. Each year,
when the Economist or Mercer
puts out its "best" or "most liv-
able" list, Lotusland regularly
cracks the top •ve. But every
so often, a contrarian report
puts Vancouver in a less •atter-
ing light.
Such appeared to be the
case when the 2017 Sustainable
Cities Mobility Index, pro-
duced by Arcadis, was released
last fall. The Amsterdam-
based consulting •rm ranked
Vancouver 28 out of 100 global
cities on urban mobility, with
Hong Kong, Zurich and Paris
taking the top three spots.
Although there are several
big caveats with the •ndings
—including the fact that the
top 25 cities are separated
by about 10 percentage
points—the analysis points to
Vancouver showing weakness
on issues of "people" (see
sidebar), especially the share
of trips taken by public transit,
where it ranks 71 out of 100.
"What's really important
for us in the Mobility Index
is accessibility of public
transit—and the investment of
public funds into those forms
of transit," explains John
Batten, global cities director
at Arcadis. Hong Kong ranks
•rst, Batten adds, because its
transit system, the
MTR, "is by
far the most superior form of
public transit in the world. And
it has to be, because it moves
so many people a day." At the
same time, he admits, "Hong
Kong is terrible when it comes
to bicycles."
istOCk
upward mobility?
A recent survey casts doubt on Vancouver's commitment to sustainable
transport. But perhaps it's asking the wrong questions
by Matt O'Grady
TRANSIT
(
the informer
)
O N
T H E
R aDa R
Moving TargeTs
Consulting firm
Arcadis's Sustainable
Cities Mobility Index
appears each fall, with
a new one expected in
October. The 2017 rank-
ing was based on 23 key
indicators, broken down
into three categories:
people, planet and profit.
Vancouver finished
No. 3 overall among 23
North American cities
and 28th among 100
cities worldwide. Here's
how it fared against its
North American peers.
PEOPLE (No. 7*)
Intended to capture
quality of life for com-
muters and visitors, this
sub-index focuses on
indicators like safety
(traffic facilities), access
to transport services
and share of trips taken
by public transit.
PLANET (No. 9*)
The planet sub-index
looks at various green
factors, with greenhouse
gas emissions, traffic
congestion and delays
and bicycle infrastruc-
ture among them.
PROFIT (No. 1*)
Profit, which covers
economic health, exam-
ines commuting time,
transit revenue as a
share of expenses, pub-
lic finance commitment,
affordability of public
transit and efficiency of
road networks.
sOuRCE: sustainablE CitiEs
mObilitY inDEx 2017, aRCaDis
*
Out of 23 North
American cities
cash and carry
For vancouver,
expensive subways
may not be the best
plan to get more
people out of cars
OCtObER 2018 BCBusiness 15
