Sustainable Transportation in Canada: 'Shades of Green', but no Standouts

"Victoria has the greenest urban transportation practices in Canada, followed closely by Vancouver, Ottawa-Gatineau, and Winnipeg. But none of the 27 cities surveyed received an 'A' on their report card, says a study to be released today.

Toronto and Montreal tied for fifth in the ranking, which examined 17 factors, including public transit ridership, number of vehicles per capita, number of hybrid or alternative-fuel vehicles in public transit and municipal fleets, policies such as anti-idling and trip-reduction programs, new housing density, greenhouse gas emissions, employer-sponsored eco-transit pass programs and hybrid taxis.

And why the failures? The low grades are not simply a function of city size, since the study assessed the various factors on a per-capita basis, although larger cities can take advantage of economies of scale. However, size doesn't stop any city from taking action on housing density, anti-idling, transit passes, hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles or free downtown transit, the report said.

Calgary and Edmonton both received Ds for their heavy use of cars, urban sprawl and high carbon emissions. Calgary has the highest level of vehicle ownership in Canada, and a great climate change action plan that hasn't been acted upon. Edmonton can improve by putting more of its Environmental Strategic Plan into effect.

Winnipeg came fourth because it has free transit in the downtown core and affordable transit passes. About 26 per cent of taxis are hybrids - the second highest city after Victoria. Winnipeg also boasts relatively low carbon emissions and vehicle ownership."