Winnipeg — where it’s easy to get around by car but much harder to bike or walk

About half of Winnipeggers who took part in a city survey said it’s easy to travel around the city by bus or bike, while nearly all deem driving a simple option.

The City of Winnipeg’s 2025 Resident Satisfaction Survey discovered a large majority of residents (90 per cent) agreed or strongly agreed it is easy to get around the city by car, which dropped to 59 per cent for walking, 51 per cent for cycling and 48 per cent for transit.

The numbers mark a decline from past results — in 2021, 91 per cent agreed it was easy to get around by car, and 77 per cent by walking while 66 per cent found it easy to do so by bike and 62 per cent said the same for transit.

After the city spent millions to expand active transportation routes in recent years, city council’s public works chairwoman said she was initially puzzled by those results.

“It’s a surprise because we’ve got more people now than ever biking and moving around (on foot) … What I think (the survey) represents is more people than ever before … realizing we need more connections,” said Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West).

Lukes noted the survey was conducted before Winnipeg Transit implemented a massive overhaul of its routes on June 29.

“This is why we’re making all these changes … You can see (resident views) have been (worsening). That was the catalyst for us to (realize) we need to do a big overhaul here,” she said.

Lukes expects satisfaction with bussing will improve within the next two years, as Winnipeggers get used to the new system and Transit tweaks it.

“Every city that has done this (type of network change) has seen increased transit ridership,” she said.

Despite overall driving being deemed “easy” by many, only 38 per cent of Winnipeggers who answered the survey said they were very or somewhat satisfied with the city’s management of rush-hour traffic flow, down from 62 per cent in 2021.

Lukes suspects that partly reflects the absence of some infrastructure other cities have.

“We’re a city that doesn’t have freeways. We’re a growing city and, in the summer, our construction season really messes with rush-hour traffic,” she said.

A total of 600 Winnipeg adults were surveyed through Prairie Research Associates Inc.’s online panel between May 7 and May 18. No error rate can be calculated, though a random population survey of this size would have a margin of error of plus or minus 4 per cent, 19 times out of 20, the survey states.

On the positive side, 86 per cent of respondents deemed quality of life good or very good overall.

Local cycling advocates say the numbers reflect challenges within the current active transportation network.

Patty Wiens, who was appointed “bike mayor of Winnipeg” by the international advocacy group BYCS, said she added an extra four kilometres to her commute to avoid busy routes that didn’t physically separate cyclists and vehicles.

“I felt threatened. I had people passing me on the right … I watched collisions. So, I just became really scared and switched my route,” said Wiens.

She said she now travels 15 kilometres, instead of 11.

Wiens said the city should focus on eliminating gaps in the bike network to make cycling an easier option.

Mark Cohoe, executive director of Bike Winnipeg, agreed.

“People are very satisfied with how they can get around by car. But, obviously, the sustainable modes (of transportation) that our city planning documents and our transportation master plan are really trying to advance are … where we’re seeing that satisfaction drop pretty significantly, for walking, biking and transit,” said Cohoe.

Meanwhile, Winnipeggers had mixed views on the city’s level of customer service. Just 53 per cent strongly or somewhat agreed city staff are easy to get a hold of when needed and only 50 per cent strongly or somewhat agreed the city “responds quickly to requests and concerns.”

By contrast, 89 per cent strongly or somewhat agreed that city staff are courteous, helpful and knowledgeable.

Lukes said many concerns about delays in reaching staff and getting requests met promptly are directly tied to a lack of funding to boost resources.

“We have an outdated funding model that relies on city (property) taxes … We are really restricted and we see this reflected in some of these (survey) answers,” she said.

Winnipeggers also expressed concern about walking alone at night. Nearly 60 per cent agreed or strongly agreed they felt safe doing so in their own neighbourhood and just 12 per cent felt safe doing so downtown.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

X: @joyanne_pursaga