Vancouver City Council voted Wednesday to approve the new Transportation 2040 plan, which provides a framework for the future of transportation in the city.
This comes after a two-year citizen engagement process in which 50 stakeholder groups and more than 18,000 Vancouverites were consulted, both in person and online.
"The plan puts a major emphasis on expanded transit, will provide safety upgrades for pedestrians and cyclists and enhances goods movement to support local businesses," said Mayor Gregor Robertson, explaining the approval brings Vancouver another step closer to its Greenest City targets.
One of the goals of the transportation plan is to have at least two-thirds of all trips in the city being made on foot, bike or transit by 2040, compared with 44% of trips currently using those modes.
Some of the other aims include:
- examining major traffic corridors, such as Broadway, Hastings, 49th Avenue and 41st Avenue and prioritizing these in terms of expansions to transit service;
- reducing the city's traffic fatalities to zero, through the use of more crossing timers and signals, curb bulges, wider sidewalks and better lighting;
- upgrades to the safety and scope of the city's cycling network; and
- making transportation information fully available to the public.
Robertson said, "Vancouver needs to be taking action now, and after one of the broadest and most-engaging consultation processes in our city's history, the 2040 plan represents a major step toward a transportation future that supports bold safety goals, the needs of a growing economy and a greener Vancouver."
