2011 NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS Ministry of Finance Fact Sheet 5 Commuting to Work

This factsheet looks at data on commuting to work released by Statistics as part of the 2011 National Household Survey. Results are not compared to Modes of Transportation to Work, , 2011 2006 Census data because of comparability issues¹. Eight Ontarians out of 10 Driving to Work According to the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS), . Carpool 13.6% 93 per cent of employed Ontarians commuted to work, Bus 8.0% while 7 per cent worked from home.

. Of those who commuted, 89 per cent went to a usual Subway & elevated rail place of work and 11 per cent travelled to a location that 4.2% Driving Commuter train, light rail, varied from day to day. (single driver, no passengers) streetcar & ferry 1.8% 65.1% . Private vehicles (car, truck or van) were by far the most Walk 5.1% common mode of transportation, used by 78.7 per cent of Cycle 1.2% commuters in Ontario. Of those, 82.7 per cent drove Other 1.0% alone and 17.3 per cent carpooled. . The share of commuters using public transit for the longest part of their trip was 14 per cent. Of transit users, Source: 2011 National Household Survey. 57.2 per cent commuted by bus, 30 per cent by subway Public Transit & Active Transportation or elevated rail, and 12.8 per cent by commuter train, Select Canadian CMAs, 2011 light rail, streetcar or ferry. Bus Commuter train, light rail, streetcar & ferry . Finally, 5.1 per cent of Ontario commuters walked to work Subway & elevated rail Walk Cycle

and 1.2 per cent cycled. 16.5 High Use of Non-Auto Transportation in Large Cities 18.8 . Among Canadian Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs), Winnipeg 20.5 Calgary commuters were most likely to walk, cycle or 21.9 Halifax use public transit to get to work at 29.3 per cent. 22.1 Victoria 27.0 came in second place with 29.0 per cent, and . Vancouver 27.8

Ottawa- was third with 28.6 per cent. -Gatineau 28.6 Toronto had the highest share of subway and elevated . Toronto 29.0

rail users in Canada at 9.4 per cent. Montreal 29.3 Ottawa-Gatineau had the highest share of bus users in . 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 the country at 19.9 per cent. Per Cent of All Commuters Source: 2011 National Household Survey. . Victoria had the highest share of commuters walking (10.0%) and cycling (5.9%) to work. Public Transit & Active Transportation Ontario CMAs, 2011 Larger Share Walk to Work in Smaller Ontario CMAs Bus Commuter train, light rail, streetcar & ferry . Toronto (69.9%) and the Ontario part of the Ottawa- Subway & elevated rail Walk Cycle Gatineau CMA (67.7%) had the lowest shares of people 7.6 Windsor 7.8 driving to work in Ontario. The proportion of drivers was St. Catharines-Niagara 8.9 highest in Brantford (91.4%) and Windsor (91.3%). 9.0 9.8 . In smaller CMAs, the share of people walking to work 10.5 was often larger than the share of transit users. Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo 10.9 Peterborough 12.1 . Kingston had the highest share of walking commuters 12.1 12.9 (8.5%). Ottawa-Gatineau had the highest share of London 13.8 cyclists (2.4%). Hamilton 14.6 Kingston 15.8 Toronto 29.0 ¹ When comparing estimates over time, two key differences should be Ottawa-Gatineau (ON) 31.3 considered: 1. The NHS is a voluntary survey and may be subject to 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Per Cent of All Commuters potentially higher non-response error than the 2006 Census. 2. The two Source: 2011 National Household Survey. sources represent different populations ̶ the Census includes residents in collective dwellings and persons living abroad, but the NHS excludes them. July 2013 Office of Economic Policy Labour and Demographic Analysis Branch 2011 NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS

Ministry of Finance Fact Sheet 5 Page 2

Most Drive Alone Carpooling, Ontario CMAs, 2011 . In 2011, 89.7 per cent of Ontarians using private vehicles to go to work drove alone, and 10.3 per cent carpooled. Windsor 12.9 St. Catharines-Niagara 15.5 This compares to 8.3 per cent who carpooled nationally. Thunder Bay 15.9 . In Ontario, the highest proportion of carpoolers was in Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo 16.0 Oshawa 16.1 Ottawa-Gatineau at 21.3 per cent of drivers, followed by Brantford 16.7 Kingston (20.7%) and Peterborough (19.2%). Hamilton 16.7 London 16.8 . Windsor was by far the CMA where carpooling was least Guelph 16.9 popular, at only 12.9 per cent. Barrie 17.3 Toronto 17.7

Greater Sudbury 17.9 Ontarians have the Longest Commutes in Canada Peterborough 19.2 Kingston 20.7 . In 2011, Canadians commuters spent an average of 25.4 Ottawa-Gatineau (Ontario part) 21.3 minutes travelling to work, practically the same amount of 5 10 15 20 time on average as in the United States (25.5 minutes). Share of Driving Commuters who Carpool (%) . Ontarians had a slightly longer average commute of 27.6 Source: 2011 National Household Survey. minutes, the longest among provinces. The shortest average commute was in P.E.I (18.0 minutes). Travel Time to Work, Ontario, 2011

One in Ten Commuters Travel for Over an Hour . About one quarter of Ontarians had a commute of less than 15 minutes (25.5%), and close to a third (32.4%) More than 1 hour 11.2% travelled between 15 and 29 minutes to get to work. 45-59 Less than minutes 15 minutes Another 21.4 per cent travelled for 30 to 44 minutes. 25.5% . Longer commutes of over 45 minutes were the lot of one 9.4% Ontarian out of 5. About 9.4 per cent travelled between 45 and 59 minutes to work, while 11.2 per cent 30-44 minutes commuted for over one hour. 21.4% 15-29 minutes 32.4% Toronto: Longest Travel Times to Work in Canada . Among Canadian CMAs, the longest average travel times to work were in Toronto at 32.8 minutes. Comparatively for large American metropolitan areas, average travel Source: 2011 National Household Survey. time to work in New York was 34.7 minutes, while the average commute in Washington was 33.8 minutes. Travel Time to Work . Montreal (29.7 minutes) and Vancouver (28.4) were also Select Canadian CMAs, 2011

Canadian CMAs with long commutes. Less than 15 minutes 15-29 minutes Average Travel Time . Commuters in Saguenay (16.9 minutes) and Thunder 30-44 minutes 45-59 minutes More than 1 hour (minutes) Bay (17.1) had the shortest average travels times. Victoria 21.8

Quebec 22.0 Oshawa: Highest Share of Long Commute Times Winnipeg 23.3 . Average travel times do not reflect the experience of all Halifax 23.7 commuters. For some, travel times are much longer. Edmonton 25.6 Ottawa-Gatineau 26.3 . In Canada, 17.1 per cent of commuters usually took 45 Calgary 27.0 minutes or more to get to work. Commuters in the Vancouver 28.4 were much more likely to be in this Montreal 29.7 group. Toronto 32.8 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Per Cent of All Commuters Source: 2011 National Household Survey.

Office of Economic Policy Labour and Demographic Analysis Branch 2011 NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS

Ministry of Finance Fact Sheet 5 Page 3

. In 2011, 29.9 per cent of commuters in Oshawa, 28.4 per Travel Time to Work, Ontario CMAs, 2011 cent of those in Toronto and 26.6 per cent of those in Less than 15 minutes 15-29 minutes Average Barrie spend 45 minutes or more travelling to work. Travel Time 30-44 minutes 45-59 minutes More than 1 hour (minutes) Toronto: More than Half Commute for Over 30 Minutes Thunder Bay 17.1 Windsor 18.8 . Within Ontario, commuters in Toronto (32.8 minutes), Greater Sudbury 20.1 Kingston 20.4 Oshawa (31.8) and Barrie (29.6) had the longest average St. Catharines-Niagara 20.6 commutes. London 21.1 Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo 21.7 . The shortest average commutes were in Thunder Bay Peterborough 22.2 Bradford 22.7 (17.1 minutes), Windsor (18.8) and Greater Sudbury Guelph 22.8 (20.1). Ottawa-Gatineau (Ontario part) 26.2 Hamilton 26.9 . While 86.6 per cent of commuters in Thunder Bay Barrie 29.6 Oshawa 31.8 travelled 29 minutes or less to work, this was the Toronto 32.8 experience of only 44.4 per cent of Torontonians. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Per Cent of All Commuters Longest Travel Times by Public Transit Source: 2011 National Household Survey. . Commuters travelling by transit took longer to get to work on average than commuters who used cars. Commute Time by Mode of Transportation . In 2011, commuters who used a private vehicle spent an Ontario, 2011 average of 25.7 minutes travelling to work, compared to Minutes

42.3 minutes for bus riders, 47.4 minutes for subway 60 57.4 users and almost an hour on average (57.4 minutes) for commuter train, light rail and streetcar passengers. 50 47.4 42.3 . Public transit travel times include the time required to 40 walk to the bus stop, subway or train station, as well as waiting times. 30 25.7 20.2 . Commuters using active transportation spent the least 20 time travelling to work, on average walking 13.6 minutes 13.6 and cycling 20.2 minutes. 10

0 Barrie: Commuters Leaving Home Early Private Bus Subway & Commuter Walk Cycle . In 2011, 6.2 per cent of Ontarians left home for work vehicle elevated rail train, light rail & streetcar between 5:00 and 5:59 am, and 17.5 per cent left Source: 2011 National Household Survey. between 6:00 and 6:59. . Barrie (10.8%) and Oshawa (10.4%) were the Canadian CMAs with the highest share of commuters leaving for Time Leaving Home for Work, Ontario, 2011

work between 5:00 and 5:59 am. 5:00-5:59 . Half of Ontario commuters leave home between 7:00 and 6.2% 8:59am, while about one quarter leave during the rest of 12:00-4:59 the day or at night (between 9:00am and 4:59 am). 14.6%

6:00-6:59 Commuters with Long Travel Times Leave Home Early 17.5% 9:00-11:59 . Ontario commuters leaving home between 5:00 and 11.2% 5:59 am had the longest travel times, averaging 35.9 minutes, followed by people leaving between 6:00 and 6:59 am at 31.6 minutes. 8:00-8:59 7:00-7:59 23.6% 27.0% . People leaving home in late morning (between 9:00 and 11:59 am) had the shortest commute times, averaging 22.9 minutes.

Source: 2011 National Household Survey.

Source: ’s 2011 NHS in Brief: Commuting to Work. Contact Alex Munger (416) 325-0102 Office of Economic Policy Labour and Demographic Analysis Branch