Pedestrian Zone Earns Consistently High Marks from Visitors

For the third year in a row, Visitor Experience Surveys show exceptionally high support for the Banff Avenue Pedestrian Zone experience:

• 86 per cent of respondents rated the pedestrian zone experience 8/10 or higher (with almost 50 percent rating it 10/10.)
• 97 per cent of respondents who provided an opinion would like to see it continue.

Through the Transportation Shift campaign, Banff & Lake Louise Tourism has worked with Town of Banff and Parks Canada to encourage visitors to take transit and active modes. The Town of Banff Summer Transportation Overview 2022 highlighted positive developments in traffic management and overall congestion:

• July and August vehicle volumes at the Main Entrances were down six per cent from 2019.
• Average Vehicles Per Day (AVPD)* was 25,500, above the 24,000-congestion threshold, but still below 2017, 2018, and 2019.
• Traffic travel times from the highway into Banff (through both East and West entrances) improved in 2022 over 2019.
• Volume of vehicles on Mountain Avenue decreased 19 per cent from 2019 (versus a six per cent reduction at the Main Entrances.)
• Ridership on Roam Route 1 increased 18 per cent, indicating a mode shift from private vehicles to mass transit.
• Travel times for traffic travelling northbound from the south side of the bridge improved significantly in 2022 over 2019.
• Occupancy of visitor paid parking spots averaged 98 per cent in peak times.
• Occupancy at the train station intercept lots was up to 100 per cent at peak times (from 65 per cent at peak times in 2019.)
• Access to residential parking improved dramatically, with residential street occupancy rates down to 66 per cent in 2022 (from 90 per cent in 2019.)

The Summer Transportation Overview can be accessed here.