<<

2016 CENSUS HIGHLIGHTS Ministry of Finance Fact Sheet 14

Commuting to Work This factsheet looks at data on commuting to work released by Statistics as part of the 2016 Census. Modes of Transportation to Work, , 2016 More Ontarians with No Fixed Workplace . The 2016 Census revealed that the share of Ontarians with a usual place of work reached 81.0 per cent, down Carpool from 85.5 per cent in 1996. There was a corresponding 12.3% Bus 8.0% increase in people with no fixed workplace, from 6.9 per Subway & elevated rail cent in 1996 to 11.1 per cent in 2016. 4.5% Commuter train, light rail, . The share of people working from home remained stable, Driving streetcar & ferry 2.1% (single driver, no passenger) at 7.3 per cent. 65.6% Walk 5.3% Public Transit Use Rising among Commuters Cycle 1.2% Other 1.0% . In 2016, 77.9 per cent of Ontario commuters used private vehicles (car, truck or van) to go to work, down from 79.9 per cent in 1996. Within this group, 84.2 per cent drove alone and 15.8 per cent carpooled. Source: . 14.6 per cent of commuters used public transit for the Public Transit & Active Transportation longest part of their trip, up from 12.2 per cent in 1996. Of Select Canadian CMAs, 2016 transit users, 54.7 per cent commuted by bus, 30.9 per Bus Commuter train, light rail, streetcar & ferry cent by subway or elevated rail, and 14.4 per cent by Subway & elevated rail Walk Cycle commuter train, light rail, streetcar or ferry. 15.9 . About 5.3 per cent of Ontario commuters walked to work Québec 18.7 down from 6.1 per cent in 1996. Finally, 1.2 per cent 19.9 cycled, up slightly from 1.0 per cent 20 years earlier. 20.6 Halifax 21.0 High Use of Non-Auto Transportation in Large Cities - 27.0 . Among Canadian Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs), Victoria 27.8 commuters were most likely (31.0%) to walk, 29.4 cycle or use public transit to get to work, followed by Montréal 29.5 those in (29.5%) and Vancouver (29.4%). Toronto 31.0 . Nationally, Toronto had the highest share of its 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Per Cent of All Commuters commuters using subway and elevated rail to get to work, Source: Statistics Canada at 9.9 per cent. Ottawa-Gatineau had the highest share of Public Transit & Active Transportation bus commuters in the country at 18.1 per cent. Victoria Ontario CMAs, 2016 had the highest share of commuters walking (10.3%) and Bus Commuter train, light rail, streetcar & ferry cycling (6.6%) to work. Subway & elevated rail Walk Cycle . In Ontario, the highest proportion of carpoolers was in Windsor 7.6 7.7 (14.5%), and the lowest was in Windsor (10.8%). St. Catharines-Niagara 8.1 Barrie 8.4 Belleville 8.5 More People Walk to Work in Smaller Ontario CMAs 9.3 . Toronto (68.0%) and the Ontario part of the Ottawa- 9.8 Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo 11.5 Gatineau CMA (69.8%) had the lowest shares of people Peterborough 12.2 13.0 using a car, truck or van to get to work in Ontario. The 13.3 proportion of drivers was highest in Windsor (91.5%) and London 13.9 Hamilton 15.0 Brantford (91.4%). Kingston 16.3 Ottawa-Gatineau (Ontario) 29.2 . In smaller CMAs, the share of people walking to work Toronto 31.0

was often larger than the share of transit users. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Per Cent of All Commuters . Kingston had the highest share of walking commuters Source: Statistics Canada (7.6%) and Ottawa-Gatineau the highest share of cyclists February 2018 (2.5%). Office of Economic Policy Labour Economics Branch 2016 CENSUS HIGHLIGHTS Ministry of Finance Fact Sheet 14 Page 2

Ontarians have the Longest Commutes in Canada . In 2016, Canadians commuters spent an average of 26.2 Travel Time to Work, Ontario, 2016 minutes travelling to work, practically the same amount of time on average as in the United States (26.6 minutes). . Ontarians had a slightly longer average commute of 28.8 More than minutes, the longest among provinces, and an increase 1 hour 12.4% Less than from 27.6 minutes in 2011 (first time this data was 45-59 15 minutes collected). The shortest average commute was in Prince minutes 24.0% 10.1% Edward Island (18.0 minutes). . The increase in average commute time in Ontario since 2011 is attributable to longer travel time for those using 30-44 minutes 21.3% public transit. 15-29 minutes 32.2% One in Ten Commuters Travel for Over an Hour . About one quarter of Ontarians had a commute of less than 15 minutes (24.0%), and close to a third (32.2%) Source: Statistics Canada travelled between 15 and 29 minutes to get to work. Another 21.3 per cent travelled for 30 to 44 minutes. . Longer commutes of over 45 minutes were the lot of less Average Commute Time by Mode of Transportation than one Ontarian out of 5. About 10.1 per cent travelled Ontario, 2011 & 2016 Minutes between 45 and 59 minutes to work, while 12.4 per cent 60.1 commuted for over one hour. 60 2011 57.4

2016 49.2 50 47.4 44.5 Public Transit Commutes Taking More Time 42.3 . Public transit travel times include the time required to 40 walk to the bus stop, subway or train station, as well as 30 waiting times. 25.7 26.3 20.2 20.9 . In 2016, Ontarians using train, light rail and streetcar to 20 13.6 14.4 get to work had the longest average commutes at 60.1 10 minutes, up from 57.4 minutes in 2011, the most significant duration increase by mode of transportation. 0 Car, truck or Bus Subway & Commuter Walk Cycle . Subway and elevated rail commuters also saw their travel van elevated rail train, light rail & streetcar time rise from 47.4 minutes in 2011 to 49.2 minutes in Source: Statistics Canada 2016, along with bus commuters (from 42.3 to 44.5 minutes). Travel Time to Work . By contrast, those traveling by private vehicle, walking Select Canadian CMAs, 2016 and cycling saw smaller increases in commute times over Less than 15 minutes 15-29 minutes Average the 2011-2016 period. Average commute times rose from Travel Time 30-44 minutes 45-59 minutes More than 1 hour (minutes) 25.7 to 26.3 minutes for those using a car, truck or van, Victoria 22.2 from 13.6 to 14.4 minutes for those walking, and from Québec 22.4 20.2 to 20.9 minutes for those cycling to work. Winnipeg 24.0

Toronto: Longest Travel Times to Work in Canada Halifax 24.0 Edmonton 25.9 . Among Canadian CMAs, the longest average travel times Calgary 26.5 to work were in Toronto at 34.0 minutes. Comparatively Ottawa-Gatineau 27.3 for large American metropolitan areas, average travel Vancouver 29.7 time to work in New York was 34.7 minutes, while the Montréal 30.0 average commute in Washington was 32.8 minutes. Toronto 34.0 . Montreal (30.0 minutes) and Vancouver (29.7) were also 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Per Cent of All Commuters Canadian CMAs with long commutes. Source: Statistics Canada . Commuters in Saguenay (17.7 minutes) and Thunder Bay (17.5) had the shortest average travel times. Office of Economic Policy Labour Economics Branch 2016 CENSUS HIGHLIGHTS Ministry of Finance Fact Sheet 14 Page 3

Thunder Bay: Fastest Commutes Travel Time to Work, Ontario CMAs, 2016 . Within Ontario, commuters in the CMAs of Toronto (34.0

minutes), Oshawa (33.5) and Barrie (30.7) had the Less than 15 minutes 15-29 minutes Average Travel Time 30-44 minutes 45-59 minutes More than 1 hour longest average commutes. (minutes) . The shortest average commutes were in Thunder Bay Thunder Bay 17.5 Windsor 18.9 (17.5 minutes), Windsor (18.9) and Belleville (19.7). Belleville 19.7 Kingston 20.1 . Average travel times do not reflect the experience of all Greater Sudbury 20.8 St. Catharines-Niagara 21.5 commuters. For some, travel times are much longer. London 21.9 Peterborough 22.7 . In Canada, 18.2 per cent of commuters took 45 minutes Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo 22.8 Guelph 23.9 or more to get to work. Commuters in the Greater Brantford 24.1 Toronto Area were much more likely to be in this group. Ottawa-Gatineau (ON) 27.2 Hamilton 28.4 . In 2016, 31.5 per cent of commuters in Oshawa, 30.8 per Barrie 30.7 Oshawa 33.5 cent of those in Toronto and 27.7 per cent of those in Toronto 34.0 Barrie spent 45 minutes or more travelling to work. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 . While 87.0 per cent of commuters in the Thunder Bay Per Cent of All Commuters Source: Statistics Canada CMA travelled 29 minutes or less to work, this was the experience of only 42.8 per cent of Toronto commuters. 2016 Work Commuting Patterns,

Many Oshawa Commuters Work in Toronto Greater . Among the eight CMAs of the Greater Golden Horseshoe Within CMA To Toronto Elsewhere

(GGH), with the exception of Toronto (3%), St. Oshawa 54 42 4

Catharines-Niagara had the lowest proportion of Barrie 61 29 10

commuters going to a workplace outside of its CMA Brantford 67 5 28

boundaries, at 13 per cent, followed by Peterborough Guelph 71 12 17

(16%) and Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo (17%). Hamilton 72 22 6

. By contrast, 46 per cent of Oshawa’s commuters went to Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo 83 5 12

work outside the CMA. The Barrie (39%) and Brantford Peterborough 84 3 13

(33%) CMAs also had significant shares of residents St. Catharines-Niagara 87 4 9

commuting outside their boundaries. Toronto 97 3 . Of the eight CMAs of the GGH, Oshawa had the highest 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 share of residents commuting to the Toronto CMA for Per Cent of All Commuters work, at 42 per cent. Resident of the Barrie (29%) and Source: Statistics Canada Hamilton (22%) CMAs also had high propensities of commuting to the Toronto CMA for work. Time Leaving Home for Work, Ontario, 2016 Most Commuters Leave Home Before 8 am 5:00-5:59 . About a quarter of Ontario commuters leave before 7 am. 6.8% 6.8 per cent leave home for work between 5:00 and 5:59 am, and 17.1 per cent leave between 6:00 and 6:59 am. 12:00-4:59 16.0% . Roughly half of Ontarians leave for work between 7:00 6:00-6:59 and 8:59am, while 28.1 per cent leave during the rest of 17.1% the day or at night (between 9:00am and 4:59 am). 9:00-11:59 12.2% Commuters with Long Travel Times Leave Home Early . Ontario commuters leaving home between 5:00 and 7:00-7:59 8:00-8:59 25.8% 5:59 am had the longest travel times, averaging 36.9 22.2% minutes, followed by people leaving between 6:00 and 6:59 am at 32.7 minutes.

. People leaving home in late morning (between 9:00 and Source: Statistics Canada 11:59 am) had the shortest commute times, averaging 23.8 minutes. Contact Alex Munger (416) 325-0102

Office of Economic Policy Labour Economics Branch