University of Victoria
OP-16: Commute Modal Split

A behavourial transportation Commuter Survey titled “How do you get to campus?” was available to the entire campus community to take from October 2019 to February 2020. The purpose of the short survey was to determine what each primary mode of transportation each demographic (student, staff, faculty, visitor) uses to commute to campus on a regular basis.

UVic community engagement and outreach for the survey included classroom visits by work study students, piggy-back outreach on other UVic special events, implementing a social media campaign, placing posters and digicaster screen signs across campus, posting in the employee newsletter and on the campus planning and sustainability websites.

Of the number of 1,074 participants, many indicated that they use an alternative travel choice to the single-occupant vehicle. Results of the survey may have been impacted by:

• Completion of the survey was optional; therefore, participants who use sustainable transportation may have been more apt to complete the survey than those who drive alone.
• Closing of the survey early (by over 60 days) because of the stay-home measures put in place by the university due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This affected the sample size.

Same as the student method noted above.

2018 Campus Traffic Survey:
UVic has conducted a detailed Transportation Surveys every two years since 1996, with our most recent being in the October 2018. Physical traffic counts by mode are performed at all entrances to campus (automatic and manual); no commuter is stopped and interviewed. These physical transportation mode counts and are combined with data from our public transit authority in order to determine the transportation modal split of all persons entering/leaving campus. Note that users counted in this survey also include commuters cutting through the property since there is no way to isolate this type of traveller. The counts also do not include demographics (student, staff, faculty, visitor). These limitations affect the transportation modal split calculated. For more information: https://www.uvic.ca/sustainability/commitments/reports/index.php

Travel Choices Survey 2019:
A parking permit “Travel Choices” survey was open from July 12 to September 13, 2019. The purpose of the survey was to understand travel behaviours and choices of UVic parking permit holders, with the intention to improving the university’s current TDM program and parking management practices. A key finding from the Travel Choices Survey is that 62% of respondents drive to campus five days a week with very few “secondary” transportation modes being utilized. Survey analyses also identified two major themes that affect the respondents’ travel choices: flexibility and cost impacts.