British Columbians want slower speeds in their neighbourhoods, a new poll from Research Co. shows.
The poll results show that 68% of respondents would like to see speed limits reduced to 30 km/h on all residential streets, while keeping arterial and collector roads at 50 km/h. This is up five points since a similar survey in November 2024.
Support is strongest in the Fraser Valley (71%) and Northern BC (70%), while Metro Vancouver (69%), Vancouver Island (64%), and Southern BC (58%) also show broad backing. The Vancouver City Council has already moved to lower speed limits on local streets, approving the measure in June 2025.
The poll also shows strong approval for automated speed enforcement. More than seven-in-ten British Columbians (73%) support speed-on-green intersection cameras, and majorities back fixed speed cameras (76%), mobile speed cameras (68%), and point-to-point enforcement (63%). The polling firm noted these systems issue tickets to vehicle owners without assigning driver’s license points.
Age also plays a role in opinions on slower streets, with three-in-five British Columbians aged 35–54 supporting the change, with even higher support among those 55 and older (66%) and younger adults 18–34 (77%), according to the survey.
Regarding speeding, the survey finds little change from previous years, with 40% report seeing vehicles exceed 50 km/h on local streets daily, while 32% see it several times a week.
The online survey was conducted from January 11 to 13 among 800 adults in British Columbia. Data was weighted for age, gender, and region, with a margin of error of ±3.5 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.
As someone with pristine driving record of 42 years, someone who is in real life traffic everyday and someone who has never been polled on this matter, I could easily collect 1800 signatures of drivers who sincerely think that the speed limits are in many places either made just for cash grabbing purposes and having nothing to do with “increased safety” (the beautiful phrase to hide behind for everything), or they are advocated by “fringe minorities” whos entire existence is based on opposing the everyday progress and improvements. I would really like to find the stats for those participated in the poll, how many of them drive at least 20km in the city every day… Schools, hospitals and some senior residential areas OK, but on most other roads it is unrealistic to expect, easily proven by statistics on experienced by us drivers, that anyone obeys even the 50km/h speed limits…