BCBusiness

cities; his wife is from a small town and they both pined for a slower pace of living. In April 2014, he accepted a new job in Kamloops, teaching economics at Thompson Rivers University's School of Business and Economics. Thinking back to the last days of his long daily trip, Wood can only recall the exhaustion he felt—and the anticipa- tion of his new lifestyle. "I was ecstatic at the opportunity to live closer to work," he says. The average Cana- dian takes 25 minutes to get to work each morning, according to Statistics Canada— but for those living in Canada's largest cities, it's often two or three times as much. Commuting time has become a s er iou s con sider- ation for young pro- fessionals deciding where to put down roots. Some com- p a n ie s — e sp e c i a l ly i n t ra f f ic-plag ued Silicon Valley—now offer cash incentives for employees to live close to work, while others are relocat- ing from suburban industrial parks to the urban centres where their workers reside. In Vancouver, Microsoft has recently expanded its downtown location, adding 400 new jobs in the city core— a departure for a company whose employees make up half the population of Redmond, the Seattle suburb where it's headquartered. Beyond corporate efforts, govern- ments and transit authorities are also attempting to reduce commute times through planning and infrastructure initiatives. The City of Vancouver has had perhaps the most success to date, reducing the number of car trips within the city by 10 per cent since 1994; now half the trips made in Vancouver are by bike, walking or transit. By encouraging condo developments to include less parking, supporting car- share services and building more bike lanes, the city aims to cut car trips down to one in three by 2040. Similar efforts are under- way in Burnaby, Surrey and Richmond, but in the wake of the Lower Mainland's failed transit plebiscite, progress on commute times is far from certain. Even outside the big cities, conges- tion and commute times have become an issue. In Wood's new hometown, Kamloops city plan- ners have seen some success with their T ravel Sm a r t pro - g ra m, which has pushed city growth in areas that would be better served by transit, made cycling easier w ith more bike routes and bike racks on buses, and encouraged employ- ers to help their workers carpool or work outside of the nine-to-five workday. Indeed, Kamloops traf fic and trans- portation engineer Elnaz Ansari says that it still only takes 20 minutes to get from one end of town to the other even after a decade of growth. As for Wood, 18 months into his new life, he seems to have found a perfect balance in the city of 85,000. "We really wanted to move to a smaller, closer-knit community," he says when reached at 4 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, playing with his young daughter at a local park. "There are tons of family-oriented events and activities here." At his new job, the pay is about the same, but each morning he gets to feel the wind on his face during a 15-minute bike ride to work. The commute is a frac- tion of what he endured while living in the Lower Mainland—hours a week that Wood really values. "It's time that I get to be home with my family." ■ 44 BCBusiness JANUARY 2016 In April 2014, Wood accepted a new job in Kamloops, teach- ing economics at Thompson Rivers University's School of Business and Economics. Think- ing back to the last days of his long daily trip, Wood can only recall the exhaus- tion he felt—and the anticipation of his new lifestyle. "I was ecstatic at the oppor- tunity to live closer to work," he says f o r w o r k i n B . C . St. Paul's Foundation welcomes two new board members Joe Gallagher is CEO of the First Nations Health Authority and leads the overall development and management of Tripartite Health plans and initiatives in BC. John Montalbano is Vice Chairman of RBC Wealth Management and former Chair of the UBC Board of Governors. St. Paul's Foundation raises funds to support inspired patient care, research and teaching at St. Paul's Hospital, a treasured provincial resource for all British Columbians. For more information, visit www.helpstpauls.com

• Cover