British Columbia

• British Columbia, Canada's third largest province, comprises 9.5 per cent of the country's total land area and is home to over four million people - 13 per cent of Canada's population... By 2013 B.C.'s population is expected to hit five million... The median age of British Columbians in 1998 was 26 - in 1978 it was 29 and in 2018 it will be 41...
• Truck and rail transportation are B.C.'s largest transportation industries...
• In 1998, B.C.'s international exports totaled $25.8 billion. The U.S. ranked highest, receiving 63 per cent of B.C.'s exports, and Japan came second with 17.4 per cent of B.C.'s exports...
• During 1998, $8.7 billion was spent by 21.3 million overnight visitors travelling in the province. Of that amount, $2.38 billion was spent by B.C. residents travelling in the province, $1.66 billion was spent by other Canadians, $2.17 billion was spent by U.S. residents, $625 million was spent by European visitors, and $821 million was spent by Asia Pacific residents...

Air

• In 1998, there were 1,729,731 aircraft movements in B.C., compared with 6,565,085 for all of Canada. That's 26.4 per cent of the nation's total...
• In 1998, there were 286 licensed scheduled and charter commercial operators in B.C. Almost every community in the province with an airport or marine float has a small charter operator based in their area...
• There are 5,343 registered aircraft in B.C., compared with 28,017 for all of Canada. That's 19.1 per cent of the Canadian total...
• British Columbia has 94 certified aerodromes and 247 registered aerodromes...
• B.C.'s busiest airport is Vancouver, followed by Victoria, Kelowna, Prince George, Abbotsford, Kamloops and Nanaimo, in terms of passenger traffic...
• Vancouver International Airport (YVR) had 15.5 million passengers in 1998, a 4.7 per cent increase over 1997's total. Since 1992 passenger traffic has increased 56 per cent from 9.94 million passengers...
• In 1998, YVR handled over 255 millions tonnes of cargo...
• Victoria International Airport had 1.2 million passengers in 1998, an increase of 70 per cent since 1993...
• A record 799,663 passengers passed through Kelowna Airport in 1998, an increase of 8 per cent over 1997's total. This is the third year in a row Kelowna Airport has posted record passenger numbers...
• Prince George Airport had 323,030 passengers in 1998, an increase of 3.43 per cent over 1997's total of 312,303 passengers. Prince George Airport has experienced an increase in passenger traffic since 1993...
• Abbotsford Airport had the largest increase of any airport in B.C. In 1998, 186,392 passengers passed through the airport, an increase of 150 per cent over 1997's total of 74,561...
• There are 630 commercial helicopters in B.C., 45 per cent of the nation's total commercial helicopters...
• Avcorp Industries, one of Canada's leading aerospace industry manufacturers, reported record sales and earnings for the year ended September 1998. Avcorp had sales of $66.9 million dollars, an increase of 48 per cent over 1997's total of 45.2 million...
• In August, Conair Aviation will begin construction of a $50-million facility at the Abbotsford International Airport. When finished, Conair will be the largest third-party aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Canada, employing a total workforce of 1,200...
• There are 2,635 Approved Maintenance Engineers licensed in British Columbia...
• In 1998, there were 490 aircraft maintenance organizations in B.C., an increase of 89% over 1992's total...
• MTU Maintenance Canada's workforce has grown to 250 from 170 when the joint venture between Daimler-Chrysler and Canadian Airlines International began in November 1998...

Marine

• The Port of Vancouver handled 71.9 million tonnes of cargo in 1998, a slight decrease of two per cent from 1997's total...
• Vancouver is the second largest port in North America in terms of foreign trade and is Canada's largest port. In 1998, the container volumes hit a record 840,098 TEUs, up 16 per cent from 1997...
• The Port of Vancouver cruise ship industry registered its 16th consecutive year of growth in 1998. Cruise ships carried 873,102 revenue cruise passengers on the Vancouver-Alaska trip in 1998, a 6.9 per cent increase over the year before...
• Only 9 million tonnes of products were shipped through Prince Rupert in 1998. They had their first large cruise ship visit in 14 years this spring...
• In 1998, 26 cruise ships visited Victoria, carrying over 40,000 passengers. This year, Victoria is expecting 35 cruise ships...
• The Fraser Port handled 23,811,475 tonnes of cargo in 1998, an increase of 7 per cent over the previous year...
• There were fewer passengers travelling on B.C. Ferries - 22 million passengers and 8 million vehicles in its 1997/8 fiscal year...
• B.C. Ferries employs approximately 2,800 permanent workers, and has approximately 1,800 casual workers...

Surface

Rail

• B.C.'s rail system includes roughly 6,800 kilometres of mainland railroad track...
• Rail services are provided by CN Rail, CP Rail, BC Rail, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the Southern Railway of B.C., Amtrak, Rocky Mountaineer Railtours, VIA Rail, West Coast Express, Okanagan Valley Wine Train, White Pass Railroad, and American Orient Express...
• CP Rail is the only rail carrier that can move freight from Vancouver to Chicago over its own rail line...
• CP Rail's new $37 million intermodal yard in Pitt Meadows is open for business. It doubles the railway's intermodal capacity...
• In 1998, White Pass and Yukon Route (WP&YR) service more than 258,000 passengers. The railroad is one of the steepest in North America, climbing 2,865 feet in just 35.2 kilometres...
• Amtrak travelers took nearly 550,000 trips in the Pacific Northwest during 1998, representing a 13 per cent increase over 1997 and a 137 per cent increase since 1993...
• Rocky Mountaineer Railtours carried 54,000 passengers in 1998...
• In 1998, 1,094 unit trains unloaded 22.2 million tonnes of shipment through Roberts Bank's Westshore Terminals, the largest bulk loading terminal of its type on the West Coast of North America...
• The Okanagan Valley Wine Train made its first run on July 4, 1999...

Routes

• In B.C., there are 2,050 km of federally-owned highways, 42,279 km is provincially-owned and 21,399 km is owned by the municipalities...
• During a typical day in 1998, the Trans-Canada Highway at Port Mann Bridge transports an average of 110,000 cars daily...
• In 1998, there were 1,668,000 licensed passenger vehicles in B.C., an increase of 16,000 vehicles from the year before...
• As of January 31, 1999, there were 1,143,411 insured vehicles in the Greater Vancouver Regional District...
• There are 72,913 registered trucks (over 5,000 kg) in British Columbia...

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 British Columbia. Questions or suggestions please phone (604) 666-1675, fax (604) 666-7255.

TP 12780E