One of the City's goals is to increase mobility within our community. This includes targets for increasing the convenience of mass transit, improving walkability, making cycling easier and increasing the occupancy of motor vehicles. Shifting to more active transportation as an alternative to vehicle travel is also one of the most important ways we can reduce our climate impact.

Tracking how many passenger vehicles are registered to Colwood residents and whether that number is increasing or decreasing is one measure that will help us understand mobility and commuting habits to inform transportation planning, including parking standards and other related policies.

 Understanding vehicle data helps the City to:

  • develop transportation plans
  • plan road improvements
  • evaluate parking requirements
  • plan for people with mobility challenges, bicycle commuters, transit users, carpool and ride-sharers, and many other groups
  • understand travel habits
  • evaluate air pollution and climate impacts

Colwood Annual Passenger Vehicle Census

Population and Households

Year Population Estimate Number of Dwellings Avg Household Size Median After Tax Income of Households
2015 17,110 5,535    
2016 17,665 5,635    
2017 17,920 5,799    
2018 18,186 5,894    
2019 18,907 6,042    
2020 19,379 6,867    
2021 19,693 7,688 2.5 89,000
2022        

Number of Vehicles

Year Number of Passenger Vehicles Year to Year Change Vehicles per Capita Vehicles per Dwelling
2015 9145   0.53 1.65
2016 9748 603 0.55 1.73
2017 9559 -189 0.53 1.65
2018 9736 177 0.54 1.65
2019 9877 141 0.52 1.63
2020 9615 -262 0.50 1.40
2021 10,683 1068 0.54 1.39
2022        

Electric Vehicles

Year Electric Vehicles EV per Capital EV per Dwelling
2015 34 0.002 0.006
2016 45 0.003 0.008
2017 74 0.004 0.013
2018 95 0.005 0.016
2019 167 0.009 0.028
2020 179 0.009 0.026
2021 208 0.011 0.027
2022      

Note: Commercial vehicles are not included in these calculations as the focus of this data is to help the City understand trends related to commuting habits and street parking to inform transportation and transit planning.

Sources

ICBC Vehicle Population Data

BC Stats Poulation Estimates

Census Canada 2021 Population stats for Colwood