West Coast and Central Canada cities lead the way in national sustainable urban transportation rankings
For second year in a row, Victoria first and St. John's last in joint GreenApple Canada—UBC study
VANCOUVER – Major cities from central Canada are on the rise, while West Coast cities remain at the top, a national ranking of sustainable urban transportation practices announced today.
The second annual GreenApple Canada Smart Transportation Rankings, conducted by the Appleton Foundation in conjunction with the Sauder School of Business and the Centre for Sustainability and Social Innovation at the University of British Columbia, has placed Victoria and Vancouver first and second – and St. John’s, Newfoundland last – for the second straight year in the study of 27 Canadian metropolitan areas. Ottawa-Gatineau, Montreal and Toronto rounded out the top placing cities – with both Montreal and Toronto moving up from their 2007 rankings.
Other highlights from the 2008 report:
- Sherbrooke and Kelowna, both with metro area populations under 200,000, held their own with larger metro regions, both placing in the top 10. Kelowna moved up four places to #10 from its #14 ranking in 2007.
- The manufacturing-heavy Southern Ontario cities of Windsor, St. Catharines-Niagara and Oshawa continue to reside in the bottom-half of the rankings.
- Calgary suffered a significant drop in 2008, attributed in part to land-use patterns; it fell three spots, from #16 in 2007 to #19 in 2008. Still in Alberta, Edmonton actually rose from the #19 spot in 2007 to this year’s #18 placing.
The GreenApple Canada Ranking Report addresses public interest in transportation policies that can be taken by municipal governments to address climate change. The GreenApple Canada Report hopes to assist governments in stimulating debate and adopting sustainable urban transportation best practices. This is the only sustainable urban transportation ranking done in Canada.
"Citizens win when cities compete to adopt best practices. The GreenApple Report allows citizens to see how well their urban governments are doing on sustainable urban transportation," said Barry Appleton, National Director of the GreenApple program. "It is hard for cities to know how they are performing if they do not know how they compare with others. The GreenApple Report lets cities know what they can do to improve the sustainability of urban transportation systems in their cities.”
The GreenApple Canada Report is the most comprehensive report of its kind. The GreenApple Report secretariat spent more than 4,000 hours completing this comprehensive study. More than 2,000 telephone calls were made so that the Report could provide primary data on policy indicators that were not previously available, such as the numbers of alternative fuel vehicles used in municipal transit and taxi fleets or the amount of carbon dioxide generated by fuel emissions in each of the 27 Canadian municipal regions.
In constructing the 2008 GreenApple Canada Ranking Report, 27 municipal regions across Canada were ranked on performance in four policy categories:
- Transportation Policy such as public transit infrastructure, expenditure and transit ridership;
- Air quality measures such as ozone and carbon dioxide emission levels;
- Public policies such as anti-idling laws and trip reduction programs; and
- Technology Adaptation such as the total number of hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles in the public transit and municipal fleets.
"Significant economic and environmental developments in recent times have placed a historic emphasis on sustainable forms of urban transportation," said Daniel F. Muzyka, Dean of the Sauder School of Business at UBC. "This report will allow governments and other agencies to enhance environmental and public health benefits and to share progress and best practice while accommodating the economics of public transportation."
GREENAPPLE CANADA 2008 RANKINGS
- Victoria
- Vancouver
- Ottawa-Gatineau
- Montréal
- Toronto
- Winnipeg
- Québec
- Hamilton
- Sherbrooke
- Kelowna
- Kingston
- Saguenay
- London
- Abbotsford
- Kitchener
- Halifax
- Regina
- Edmonton
- Calgary
- Windsor
- Saskatoon
- Oshawa
- St. Catharines-Niagara
- Barrie
- Greater Sudbury
- Moncton
- St. John's
The GreenApple Canada Report has received funding from the Appleton Charitable Foundation. The Appleton Foundation was graciously supported by an expert team based at the Sauder School of Business, which was also assisted by the Sauder-hosted Centre for Sustainability and Social Innovation, and other units at the University of British Columbia. Faculty members from UBC have provided independent expert advice on design methodology, economics, atmospheric science and urban transportation best practices.
The full report can be downloaded from the foundation site (www.appletonfoundation.org).
About The GreenApple Program
GreenApple is a project of the Toronto-based Appleton Charitable Foundation (www.appletonfoundation.org). This Canadian Foundation was established in 1998 with the objective of enhancing human health, education and environmental sustainability. The GreenApple Project arose from a collaboration with the New York City based Jack D. Hidary Foundation's SmartTransportation.org project and is based on a commitment made by the Appleton Foundation at the 2006 Clinton Global Initiative.
About The Sauder School of Business
The Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia is Canada's leading academic business school, recognized globally for its contributions to the transformation of business practices through innovative research and teaching. The school has over 29,000 alumni in 70 countries around the world.
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Contact :
Derek Moscato
UBC Sauder School of Business
derek.moscato@sauder.ubc.ca
(604) 822-8345