Car Ownership Patterns Near Rapid Transit Stations

Car Ownership Patterns Near Rapid Transit Stations

by Paul Bunt, P. Eng., and Peter Joyce, P. Eng., Bunt & Associates Engineering Ltd.

The opening of Vancouver's SkyTrain rapid transit system in 1985 has spawned considerable new development within its corridor. "Pockets" of higher density residential and commercial development have emerged at many of the station locations much to the satisfaction of municipal and regional landuse and transportation planners.

A prime example of a neighbourhood transforming in response to rapid transit is at the Joyce SkyTrain station in Vancouver. Greystone Properties Ltd.'s Collingwood Village Project adjacent to Joyce Station will ultimately consist of more than 1,100 residential high-rise, low-rise, and townhouse dwelling units. By 1996, approximately 685 units had been constructed. The problem faced by Greystone was that the parking provided for the earlier phase development (approximately 1.35 stalls per unit) was as much as 20-30% unsold or un-leased even two years later.

Meanwhile, on-street parking usage in the neighbourhood was considerable with speculation that at least some of this parking was by residents of Collingwood Village. With hundreds of residential units yet to be developed in later phases of the Collingwood Project, and concern that application of previous parking standards would create even more surplus parking, Greystone commissioned Bunt & Associates Engineering Ltd. in 1996 to conduct a study of resident and neighbourhood parking at Collingwood Village. Surprisingly in the more than 10 years since SkyTrain's opening there had not yet been any detailed study of residential development parking demand near station locations.

SkyTrain Usage & Car Ownership Patterns

To determine the effect of SkyTrain, a comprehensive household survey was undertaken to record information on car ownership, SkyTrain use and other parking characteristics. With the assistance of staff from the City of Vancouver and City of Burnaby, approximately 60 buildings containing 4,000 households in the east side of Vancouver and the west side of Burnaby were selected. The survey buildings were chosen to provide a mix of townhouse, low-rise and high-rise buildings of various sizes and to represent both rental and owner-occupied units. The buildings were also generally no more than 15 years old.

To test the effect of SkyTrain, the sample was broken into two groups: (i) those within 300 metres walking distance of a SkyTrain station, and (ii) those beyond a reasonable walking distance, defined as at least 1,000 metres from the closest SkyTrain station. Thirty-three of the buildings selected were within walking distance of SkyTrain, including all of the existing buildings at Collingwood Village. At least two buildings were identified for each of the Nanaimo, 29^th Street, Joyce, Patterson, Metrotown and Royal Oak SkyTrain stations. Survey questionnaires were executed in three ways including telephone interviews, hand-out surveys at existing Greystone projects, and mail-back surveys administered by the City of Vancouver. Completed responses were collected from 555 households representing a response rate of about 14%.

The main findings from the survey are:

For multi-family residential households located near SkyTrain Stations (within 300 metres or slightly less than a 5 minute walk), the average car ownership was 0.96 vehicles per unit. For more remote locations (1,000 metres plus), the average increased to 1.05 vehicles per unit, about a 10% increase. Interestingly as many as 24% of households living near SkyTrain reported not owning any vehicles.
The effect of SkyTrain on car ownership is most clearly identified by comparing the reported frequency of transit usage with car ownership. Among households that use SkyTrain for more than 10 trips per month, car ownership is only 0.82 vehicles per unit, compared with an average of 1.14 vehicles per unit for those who ride on SkyTrain less than twice a month. These results tie back to proximity to SkyTrain in that the survey also found that the households nearer a Station are more frequent SkyTrain users. Located near a station, 47% of the households ride SkyTrain frequently (more than 10 trips per month) while only 18% of those households remote to SkyTrain ride frequently. Conversely, 24% of those near SkyTrain still are very infrequent users (less than 2 trips per month) but remote from SkyTrain that figure increases to 60%. This association confirms the major premise of the study: that location near to SkyTrain does correspond with more transit use, and car ownership is lower as a result.
Whether near to SkyTrain, or more distant, beyond the 1,000 metre threshold walking distance to a station, car ownership on average is lower for households within the SkyTrain "corridor" in Vancouver and Burnaby than for more suburban locations away from the corridor. From the 555 survey responses collected, the average car ownership was 0.99 vehicles per household. This compares to a 1991 survey of 540 multi-family households in Coquitlam that revealed an average car ownership of 1.48 vehicles per household, and a 1990 survey of 760 households throughout Burnaby that showed an average car ownership of 1.40 vehicles per household.
While the survey did identify a linkage between proximity to SkyTrain and car ownership, clearly the primary factor influencing car ownership, even in "Sky- Train neighbourhoods", is the level of household income. The survey found those households earning more than $70,000 per year on average own 1.51 vehicles while those earning less than $30,000 on average own only 0.73 vehicles per household. Other related linkages confirmed by the study include increasing car ownership with increasing household size and increasing residential floorspace area.
Other variables tested in the survey included:
- Walking Distance to SkyTrain:Among the buildings that are located within walking distance to SkyTrain, there was no clear gradient in car ownership between buildings located 50 metres, 100 metres or 300 metres;
- Rental versus owner-occupied:car ownership among owner-occupied households was slightly higher than Rental households, but not substantially;
- Length of Residency:Average residency for respondents at the current address was 2.8 years. Most (over 90%) reported no change in the number of cars owned over the previous two years. For those who reported changes, roughly as many increased the number of cars owned as decreased them;
- Parking Costs: There was no apparent link between the cost of parking and car ownership.

Neighbourhood On-Street Parking

License plate trace surveys of all vehicles parked on-street within 450 metres of the Joyce Station were conducted at several different times of the day (including late evening after 11:30pm). This process identified that as much as 83% of the on-street parking activity was by nonresidents of the community. Commuters accounted for most of these, particularly during the daytime period. (Joyce Station is the first station inside a fare change zone.) Employees from nearby major employment centres also had a significant presence. On-street parking by community residents was primarily associated with older buildings not meeting current parking supply standards. Only a fraction (4%) was associated with residents from newer residential projects such as Collingwood Village.

This result corresponds with comments reported in the 555 survey responses collected. Most respondents (86%) reported that they usually parked their vehicles on-site on the building property. Another 11% reported that they regularly parked their vehicles on nearby streets. A small number of the vehicles owned (3%) were parked offsite at another location.

When examining the reasons for parking on the street, no particular reason clearly stood out. Some reported that there was insufficient space on the property (27%) and some indicated that parking cost was the main reason (12%), but a large proportion responded that safety/security was the reason for parking on the street (25%). Other reasons (36%) included the need to accommodate oversize vehicles, etc. The results generally indicate that regardless of the cost or availability of parking, a small proportion of vehicles owned by residents will be parked on-street.

Follow-Up to Study

On the basis of this parking study, Bunt & Associates developed a formula for parking supply to be applied in subsequent phases of the Collingwood Village Project, based on the number of residential units and their size. The formula takes into account the specific characteristics of the Collingwood Village neighbourhood, including the effects of proximity to SkyTrain. The City of Vancouver subsequently approved these recommendations. The new level reduces the on-site parking requirement by about 25% below the previous level and will avoid the costly and unnecessary construction of hundreds of parking spaces at Collingwood Village.