More Cars than People in Saskatoon?

24. September 2010 by Kari Calder.

According to an article from the Saskatoon Star Phoenix there are more cars than people in Saskatoon. This was the same in 2007. As a real estate agent in Saskatoon I obviously have a car. A car being singular. I can’t do my job without a car.

Our population in Saskatoon is around 220,000 people but there were almost 229,000 registered vehicles in our city. There needs to be a shift as our roads are becoming more congested and only approximately 21% of people do not drive their cars to work. The national average is 28% and it is believe the goal should be more like 30%. It is a hard thing to accomplish though as our only other mode of transportation in Saskatoon is the bus.

It is said that during the past 10 years the number of trips across the Circle Drive bridge jumped by more than 20,000 a day and the commute time has doubled. As a Saskatoon real estate agent I have noticed this drastic change in the amount of time it can take me to get to appointments.

Some of the reasons for the increase in cars has to do with the weath of the city. Many more teenagers now have their own cars in Saskatoon. There are also likley more people out in the work force and the multi-vehicle family is now the norm.

The city of Saskatoon has added a universal bus pass to students, brought in a bus pass program for employers, upgraded the transit network to add rapid routes, and and upgraded bike network? Come on! If we lived in a city that wasn’t -50 in the winter that $2M may have been well spent but I have to say that wasn’t the smartest use of money and I don’t usually have a big opinion on things the city does. Everything else though, great! Will it make a difference? Not likely.  

Here are some stats from SGI (Saskatchewan Government Insurance)

Year-People vs Vehicles
1945-42000-6000
1965-106000-39000
1985-176000-128000
2005-206000-197000*
2009-219000-229000*
*including seasonal vehicles

Driving in this city has been less carefree and much more stressful, even in the past 5 years. I have been a Saskatoon real estate agent for over 3 years now and I can tell the difference even in 3 years of spending so much time on the roads. If you are thinking about buying a house for sale in Saskatoon and you want to speak to an experienced Saskatoon real estate agent give me a call and let me make your Saskatoon home buying process successful and enjoyable…even with our traffic!

Kari Calder
Century 21 Saskatoon
653-8222

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