City Council has approved a plan that aims to move more citizens out of their cars and onto public transit, bicycles and the soles of their feet. The TMP, titled The Way We Move, addresses city-wide transportation needs and requirements out to the year 2040.

The strategy recognizes that the city’s entire transportation network is interconnected. It puts the emphasis on widening streets to enable better movement of goods rather than commuters, and focusing on transporting people more efficiently in fewer vehicles.

Most significantly, the plan places priority on “shifting transportation modes,” by ensuring transit sustainability and aiming to increase transit ridership.

“We are building a 21st century city, shaping an Edmonton that will meet the needs of our diverse and growing urban and regional population,” the plan’s executive summary states. “Growing environmental concerns, acknowledgment of the ongoing investment needed to maintain our transportation infrastructure and the rapid growth of our city demand a shift in transportation priority setting.”

The shift is from single passenger vehicle use to more public transit for moving people, and from building outward to a compact urban form. When you consider the trends, the choice ahead is clear, really.

Edmontonians are spending more time in their cars, driving longer distances and dealing with increasingly congested streets. Between 1994 and 2005, Edmonton’s population increased by 13%, and the total distance traveled by automobile in the city went up by 32%.

“This car dependence contributes to a cycle of increased kilometers traveled, increased road congestion, and perceived need to build more roadways which will require more taxpayer dollars for operation and maintenance,” the plan says. “This is a fiscally and environmentally unsustainable cycle.”

The plan is part of an ambitious blueprint to make Edmonton a compact, efficient city that is outlined in the city’s vision, says Rhonda Toohey, general supervisor of strategic transportation planning. “The City of Edmonton is committed to a holistic view of transportation for our citizens," she says.

The holistic approach will mean integrating transportation and land-use decisions and encouraging transportation alternatives like transit, walking and biking as preferred means of travel. One of the plan’s goals is expanding the LRT network to all corners of Edmonton and possibly into the region, and encouraging development of compact, urban communities.

It also proposes the construction of a city-wide transit network with faster, more reliable service and direct connections to major destinations. The plan calls for smart utilization of technology such as bus priority and passenger information systems to ensure that transit is an efficient and competitive mode of travel.

Earlier this fall, council’s transportation and public works committee approved a plan to spend $58 million over the next eight years on sidewalks, multi-use trails, on-street bicycle routes, curb ramps and other parts of an active transportation strategy. The TMP follows that approach, with pledges to encourage any mode of transportation by which people use their own energy to power their motion such as biking or walking.

“To encourage more active transportation, the city will create a more walkable environment, a cycle-friendly city and an integrated network of multi-use trail facilities,” the plan says. “Active transportation should be viewed as being year-round and available for all citizens; therefore the city must have a robust maintenance policy for all seasons.”

Additionally, the plan states that Edmonton must work with other jurisdictions to ensure a safe, efficient network for moving goods and services. In particular, it mentions as priorities Anthony Henday Drive; the Inner Ring Loop of Yellowhead Trail, 170 Street, 75 Street/Wayne Gretzky Drive and Whitemud Drive; and highway connectors. The city requires efficient rail and air links, the plan says, to enhance economic vitality and stoke the competitive advantage of Edmonton and the region.

It pledges to give priority to roadway projects that enhance the movement of goods and services. “Adding roadway capacity to serve commuter traffic will not be a priority for major road projects. The focus of improvements for commuter traffic will be on optimizing the existing roadway operations.”

The TMP was developed with support from staff working on the Municipal Development Plan to ensure the guiding principles of the two plans don’t conflict. Using this approach, the transportation system and land use/urban design considerations complement and support each other so that the use of transit and transportation infrastructure is optimized and supports best practices for land use.

The public transit and walkability parts of the plan speaks to creating an Edmonton that would have more in common with Stockholm or Copenhagen than the Edmonton of the 20th century. Progressive Europeans have long understood the abundant merits of yanking people out of their cars and giving them easier-on-the-planet , easier-on-the-neighbours and easier-on-the-pocketbook transportation alternatives.

“By integrating land use development and transportation options within Edmonton, our city will be able to meet the needs or our diverse and growing population by not compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” Toohey says.

Smarter growth for a smarter future. It makes a lot of sense.