Edmonton is the capital city of Alberta and, with its neighbouring communities, encompasses the sixth largest metropolitan region in Canada with a population of 1,034,945 (2006 Census). Similar to other major Canadian cities, Edmonton is experiencing strong growth combined with a trend towards further suburbanization, which is affecting travel patterns across the city by increasing both car usage and trip distance. Recent Statistics Canada data shows that 77% of Edmonton's daily trips are made by automobile. On a typical day there are 625,000 commuter trips made in Edmonton, with the average daily commute time slightly exceeding one hour. Over the next 30 years, the City of Edmonton's population is expected to exceed one million people, while the CMA is expected to exceed a population of 1.6 million. This growth will bring about enormous levels of change and challenge as services are delivered to many new people, businesses, and industries. Over the course of 2009, the City of Edmonton's Transportation Planning Branch completed a number of initiatives that set the direction for Edmonton to become a sustainable, urban city. Five key projects are introduced, with detailed descriptions in terms of "Development and Enhancement of Sustainable Urban Transportation", "Degree of Innovation", "Transferability to other Canadian Communities and Organizations", and "Added Value." This project was nominated for the TAC 2009 Sustainable Urban Transportation Award. For the covering abstract of this conference see ITRD number E220308.
Abstract