60% of Winnipeggers want better roads; 30% want better transit

. . . So says the Canada West Foundation's Urban Transportation study, released today, the third in a series of public-opinion surveys on urban issues.

Read a pdf of the report here, though I feel compelled to warn you that many of the stats are inconclusive — it's interesting, though, to see how Winnipeggers stack up in terms of public perception of transit as compared to other cities.

Here's the press release:

(CALGARY, May 2, 2007) - The results of a Canada West Foundation public opinion survey, released today, show that strong majorities in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg feel that building and maintaining the road system is a high priority.

At the same time, the percentage of people who think that their local government is doing a good job of ensuring an efficient road system ranges from 18% in Winnipeg to 34% in Calgary.

When it comes to the road system, urbanites want more to be done and they want it done better. When it comes to funding these improvements, the most popular option is increased federal and provincial grants. Strong majorities in all seven cities included in the survey state that increasing federal and provincial infrastructure grants-even if it means a small increase in income taxes - s a good idea.

At the other end of the continuum, the idea of introducing a new local fuel or sales tax is very unpopular with at least 7 out of 10 residents in each city in the survey opposing this option.