On the Move - The Facts Spring 2004
British Columbia
- British Columbia, Canada’s third largest province comprises 9.5 percent
of the country’s total land area and is home to over 4.1 million people
– over 13 percent of Canada’s total population. In the year 2024, B.C.’s
population is projected to reach 5.3 million people, that’s a 29 percent
jump…
- In 2003, B.C.’s international exports totaled $29.6 billion. The U.S.
ranked first, receiving 66 percent of B.C.’s exports, and Japan came in
second with 12.4 percent of B.C.’s exports…
- Estimates for 2003 show B.C. tourism industry revenues fell to $8.9
billion compared to $9.3 billion in 2002. Overnight visitors from the U.S.
dropped over seven percent to 3.5 million, while the number of Asia-Pacific
visitors declined by 21 percent to just over 692,000.
- British Columbia’s transportation and warehousing industry employed
114,300 people in 2003. BC Stats figures indicate that’s 23 percent more
than the people who are employed in the agriculture, forestry, fishing, oil
and gas, mining, and utilities sectors…
- According to BC Stats, the truck and rail transportation industry sector
employs almost three times as many people as B.C.’s air transportation
industry.
Marine
- The Port of Vancouver handled 66.7 million tonnes of cargo in 2003, a six
percent increase from the 62.8 million tonnes of cargo handled in 2002…
- Vancouver is Canada’s busiest port and ranks sixth in North America in
terms of cargo volume. In 2003, container volumes hit 1.54 million TEU’s
(20-foot equivalent units), up six percent from 2002, container volumes
increased an incredible 27 percent the previous year…
- The Vancouver-Alaska cruise sector posted its first decline in 21 years in
the 2003 season. Revenue passengers hosted by the Port of Vancouver declined
15 percent this year, from 1,125,252 to 953,376, while total sailings
declined 10 percent, from 342 to 307.
- Total tonnage shipped through the Port of Prince Rupert dropped slightly
in 2003, slipping to 4.3 million tonnes of product. The port is expecting 35
large cruise vessels to call over the 2004 cruise season, and that
translates into over 65,000 passengers visiting Prince Rupert this year.
- Fraser River Port marked another consecutive period of growth; cargo
throughput reached a record 35,941,754 tonnes in 2003. Container traffic led
the way once again with dramatic growth, up 151 percent to 252,510 TEUs from
the 100,544 TEUs of 2002. Deep-sea arrivals increased by 21 percent to 774…
- In 2003, BC Ferries served up to 48 ports of call on 25 routes throughout
coastal British Columbia. In the fiscal year ended March 2004, vehicle
traffic totaled 8.3 million with 21.4 million passengers, down only very
slightly from the previous year…
Air
- According to the latest stats, British Columbia has 89 certified
aerodromes and 212 registered aerodromes.
- In January 2004, there were 5,161 registered aircraft in B.C., compared
with 29,128 for all of Canada. That is almost 18 percent of the Canadian
total…
- Of the 5,161 total aircraft registered in B.C., 667 are helicopters, over
35 percent of the nation’s total…
- There are 213 licensed scheduled and charter commercial operators in B.C.
Of that total, 79 are commercial helicopter operators and operate over 250
commercial helicopters.
- B.C.’s busiest airport, in terms of passenger traffic, is Vancouver,
followed by Victoria, Kelowna, Abbotsford and Prince George…
- In 2003, Vancouver International Airport handled 14.3 million passengers,
a four percent decrease over 2002. The facility handled 215,300 tonnes of
cargo in 2003…
- Passenger traffic at Victoria International Airport climbed seven percent
in 2003, rising from 1.1 million to 1.2 million passengers.
- A record 863,645 passengers passed through Kelowna Airport in 2003 – an
increase of almost three percent over 2002. Kelowna Airport is also ranked
as Canada’s 11th busiest airport.
- Abbotsford Airport had the highest jump in passenger traffic at a B.C.
airport, with 422,468 passengers passing through in 2003, that’s 15
percent more than 2002’s total of 367,397.
- Prince George Airport had 339,817 passengers in 2003, an increase of over
four percent over 2002’s total of 325,522 passengers…
Rail
- B.C.’s rail system includes roughly 7,700 kilometres of mainline
railroad track…
- Rail services in B.C. are provided by CN Rail, CP Rail, BC Rail,
Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the Southern Railway of B.C., Amtrak, Rocky
Mountain Railtours, VIA Rail, West Coast Express, Okanagan Valley Railway,
Omnitrax, White Pass and Yukon Route, RailAmerica/
- E&N Railway, Kelowna Pacific Railway, Grand Forks Railway, B.C. Forest
Products Railway and International Rail Road Systems…
- West Coast Express has carried over 18,000,000 riders since opening day in
1995, carrying about 8,000 riders a day. The commuter line figures that as a
result of West Coast Express, there are approximately 3,000 fewer cars on
the road during weekday peak periods.
- Rocky Mountaineer Railtours carried over 65,000 passengers in 2003, a
slight drop from the previous year. The tourist train has carried over
650,000 passengers in its 14 years of operation.
Roads
- In B.C., there are roughly 65,000 kilometres of roads - 2,000 kilometres
of the roads are federally-owned, 42,000 kilometres are provincially-owned
and 21,000 kilometres are owned by the municipalities… The Canadian road
system consists of 902,000 kilometres; seven percent is in British Columbia…
- In 2003 there were 1,828,770 licensed passenger vehicles in B.C., an
increase of over 30,000 vehicles from 2002…
- Almost all goods moved within B.C. depend on trucks. More than 35,000
trucking companies are registered in B.C…
Transport Trends is published by Transport Canada’s Pacific Region to keep
our clients and stakeholders up-to-date on transportation activities and trends
in B.C. Questions or suggestions please phone
(604) 666-8948, fax (604) 666-7255, e-mail caseyr@tc.gc.ca.
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