It could be a very long time before the number of cyclists, pedestrians and transit users outnumber the people using a personal vehicle for their daily commute, but efforts

may soon be made to cut vehicle use in the city.

Shannon Clohosey, the city's sustainability manager, brought forward the proposed Transportation Demand Management Plan to council last Monday evening.

As Clohosey told council, this plan comes out of the 2011 Parking Management Plan, which recommended finding ways to reduce the demand for parking downtown.

"As a result, the city retained Boulevard Transportation Group to develop a Transportation Demand Management Plan to recommend policies, programs and practices to change travel behavior and promote sustainable travel options,” she said.

Over the next 25 years, should the plan work as it's envisioned, there would be a 25 per cent reduction in the number of people driving their own vehicles into the city, dropping from 75 per cent of the traffic to 50 per cent.

Other methods of travelling would increase, with transit seeing the biggest gain, going from five per cent to 15 per cent.

Cycling would also rise dramatically from its current seven per cent to making up 15 per cent of traffic, while vehicle-pooling would see a hike from eight per cent to 12 per cent. Walking would increase just three per cent to make up six per cent of traffic.

"With an estimated 15,000 new residents in Whitehorse during the same time period, achieving those targets will avoid the requirements to make significant additional investment in road infrastructure and parking, as well as displace greenhouse gas emissions from future drivers,” Clohosey said.

"Five-year incremental targets show that there is a slow progression toward the final target, and a monitoring plan allows the city to track progress.”

The recommendations, Clohosey said, tie in the work of a number of city departments and address Whitehorse factors that play into transportation decisions residents make.

"The uniqueness of this location and culture was a focal point in the development of this plan and is highlighted in the recommendations,” she said.

"For instance, while the winter cycling community is strong and active, not everyone will choose to bike in the winter. For this – and other – reasons, transit is a strong focus point in this plan. Transit is an excellent asset to the city, and the (plan) aims to highlight that asset and increase ridership.”

She acknowledged the plan is primarily focused in the more urban areas of the city which has transit service and "a reasonable commute distance on a bicycle or walking.

"In the future, greater attention may be paid to providing sustainable travel options to country residential neighbourhoods,” she said.

If council adopts the plan, Clohosey noted, implementation would begin with education and awareness campaigns, with infrastructure upgrades, policy changes and consideration on designs to come forward through budgeting processes in future years.

Coun. John Streicker was the first to voice his support for the plan.

"I hope this is a starting point,” he said, adding his hope of the "avoided costs” that will come from not having to continually upgrade roads as the plan is implemented.

Coun. Dave Stockdale wondered aloud how far the city is from a day when vehicles are permitted on the road on certain days depending on their licence plates.

Clohosey said that 25 years down the road, she's hopeful more people will be choosing to walk, bike or take the bus.

It's a challenge not lost on Coun. Kirk Cameron, who pointed out: "A lot of us enjoy our cars.”

Moving to other methods of transportation, he said, would require a dramatic shift in attitude for many.

Clohosey emphasized the city will continue to evaluate how the plan is working as it moves ahead.

Despite his concerns that there needs to be a major change in attitude, Cameron described the plan as "a great step forward for us.”

Similarly, Coun. Betty Irwin agreed it's a good plan, suggesting it will help change commuting habits.

She suggested one minor alteration: adding more shelters to city bus stops, which could be potentially funded from funds like Building Canada, could make a big difference.

Mayor Dan Curtis was quick to note too that change is already starting, with a number of residents choosing more active modes of transportation for their daily commute. He noted the work of previous city councils and staff in getting to this point.

Council will vote this evening on whether to adopt the plan.