I AM TRAFFIC AND TRAFFIC IS ME

Taking A Stroll Down St.Johns Street in Port Moody

Traffic has always been a complaint in Port Moody, ask anyone who's lived here for more than 20 years!  

Our geographical location between growing communities to the east and Vancouver/Burnaby to the west means that we are in the unfortunate position of absorbing that east-west through traffic on our streets. This is called "passby traffic".  Until 1999, St. Johns and Barnet Highway were part of Highway 7A which connected Downtown Vancouver to the existing Highway 7, which further established St. Johns as a key transportation route in the Lower Mainland. 

Most traffic in Port Moody is passby. This has been document by TransLink data collection both before and after the Skytrain came through in late 2016. That being said, transportation professionals have reported changing traffic patterns since COVID that include an increase in parents driving their children to schools and an increase in mid-day errands by people who work from home.

Traffic And Port Moody Residents

As drivers, most of us make route choices based primarily on travel time. If drivers from communities around us perceive Port Moody as a good shortcut route, they will take it.  Adding density along St. Johns will actually have the effect of REDUCING passby traffic because it INCREASES local traffic.

As city centres become busier hubs with more residents, traffic lights, crosswalks, local businesses and dedicated bike lanes, their main through roads become unattractive to commuters and passby traffic is forced to find new east-west routes. 

Tip: Have you tried Como Lake?? It's almost always faster than St. Johns!

So, while it may seem counterintuitive at first, densifying around our SkyTrain stations will likely have the knock-on effect of creating a more local, close-knit Port Moody. And the traffic will be all ours! 

The Trip Generation Manual used by transportation engineers tells us that single family detached dwellings generate 1 vehicle trip per dwelling unit during peak hours while a condo dwelling unit in a dense urban area only generates 0.2 trips during the same peak hours. Consistent ICBC data and Metro Vancouver traffic studies tell us vehicle ownership in buildings beside Skytrain is ALWAYS lower than other dwellings (see pages 78-104).  

In the last three years, the Provincial government has removed the requirement for parking minimums in transit-oriented areas.  As a result, most developments now include car-share services with designated spots to reduce the need for vehicle ownership for those living adjacent to transit. This is good for traffic and for the environment.

And now, as of 2025, Port Moody residents and visitors aged 16 or older will be able to rent Lime electric scooters and electric bicycles throughout most of the city! This improved access to active modes of travel aligns with the City's Climate Action Plan and Master Transportation Plan as well as the 2023-2026 Council Strategic Plan and the Tri-Cities Zero Emission Mobility Plan.

Lastly, well-planned city centres and mixed-use development result in "internal traffic capture", meaning they actually eliminate traffic that would otherwise be present due to proximity to services like grocery, dentistry, pet care, etc.  Suterbrook is a perfect example of this. And let's not forget that TODs present so many opportunities for added community benefits including local job space, green space, daycare, and funding for recreation, arts and amenities. 

All the above being said, I know traffic is still a pain. So, at a November 12, 2025 meeting, Mayor Lahti, Councilor Morrison and I brought forward the following motions regarding studying the impacts and potential solutions for traffic in our City:

"𝑇𝐻𝐴𝑇 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑓𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝐵𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑡 𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑤𝑎𝑦/𝐶𝑃𝐾𝐶 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑣𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠, 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑡/𝐼𝑜𝑐𝑜 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑢𝑝𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒d 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠, 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑝𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑟𝑒ℎ𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑖𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑢𝑝𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑑;

𝐴𝑁𝐷 𝑇𝐻𝐴𝑇 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑡. 𝐽𝑜ℎ𝑛𝑠 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑃ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑒 2 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡, 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑓𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑖𝑡𝑦'𝑠 𝑀𝑇𝑃 𝑔𝑜𝑎𝑙𝑠, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜, 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓: P𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑡. 𝐽𝑜ℎ𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐶𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒 𝑅𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑑𝑠; 𝑎𝑛𝑑

- C𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑑𝑠."

The motion passed unanimously and I'm looking forward to the upcoming report from staff.