46 BCBusiness JUNE 2016
H OW YO U R WE E KDAY CO M M UTE HAS CHAN GE D I N TH E LAST F IVE YEA RS
Chris BraDshaw
got a permanent job
eight years ago in
burnaby working at one
of the many public-
sector union offices
there. he and his wife,
lynn, had been renting
in new westminster
and, once he had a
guaranteed salary, they
thought about buying
there. it would have
been convenient. but
they couldn't afford
anything in new west,
so they started roaming
farther and farther afield.
they ended up
buying in port
coquitlam. it's a long
commute for both of
them. his wife works
in a law office on east
hastings, which she
drives to along the
barnet highway. he
drives across a series
of secondary roads to
traverse all of coquitlam
and half of burnaby to
get to his job.
"when you first start
doing that commute, it
seems quite onerous
and stressful," says
bradshaw, whose com-
mute is 45 minutes—as
long as he doesn't leave
too late and get bogged
in coast meridian com-
muters pouring down
from burke mountain.
but he's figured out the
least annoying routes
and he makes use of his
morning time by listen-
ing to the news, which
he needs to know
for his job. he's also
learned to stay calm.
"you kind of zen out
when you're driving."
when he gets home,
the trade-off seems
worth it. "where we
live is almost semi-rural,
next to the pitt river
dike. it's a five-minute
walk there."
KEEPING IT IN THE 'BURBS
commuter
profile
DrivErs 14% 50% 33% 4%
TransiT riDErs 22% 35% 28% 15%
BikErs 50% 45% 5% 0%
waLkErs 42% 44% 4% 8%
HOW IT HAS CHANGED FOR... BETTER ROUGHLY THE SAME WORSE
NOT SURE
it's better
roughly the same
it's worse
not sure
B.C.
CIty oF
VanCouVer
rest oF
Metro
Fraser
Valley
northern
B.C.
21%
12%
25%
42%
27%
13%
16%
58%
12%
44%
44%
23%
15%
8%
43%
18%
8%
38%
36%
iNsights wEst sUrvEy, March 4 to 10, 2016
