Vancouver slips down Economist’s livability list over island traffic jam

Vancouverites are trying to figure out how traffic jams on Vancouver Island have helped drop their picturesque city from top spot on the Economist Intelligence Unit's list of the world's Top 10 most livable cities.

Vancouver was at the top of the list for almost a decade but the new list puts it third, behind top-ranked Melbourne and second-place Vienna.

The intelligence unit's Jon Copestake told CBC News Vancouver lost points this time because of travel delays on Vancouver's Malahat Highway, which is 60 kilometres and a ferry ride from the city.

The Malahat, a twisty 25-kilometre stretch of Highway 1 that runs north from Victoria, is notorious for accidents and lately has been subject to delays because of construction.

"When we look at the survey, we don't just look at the immediate urban environment of a city," Copestake said in a Canadian Press report. "We do look at the area around the city, and Vancouver Island . . . we see as being part of the same sort of broad region."

It's a head-scratcher. The Malahat is the bane of Victoria commuters but hardly an issue for Vancouverites. It's a little like saying traffic congestion around Cornwall, Ont., is a problem for most drivers in Ottawa.

"This stupid error seriously undermines the credibility of this report," Vancouver Province editor Keith Morgan said in a Facebook post.

Copestake said the scores are based on information from correspondents in each of the 140 cities included in the survey.

Toronto and Calgary were ranked fourth and fifth respectively in this year's list.

Australia placed two more cities on the list: Sydney in sixth and Perth in eighth, while Finnish capital Helsinki was seventh. New Zealand's Adelaide and Auckland rounded out the list. No U.S. cities made it.

Vancouver could see itself drop even further next year. Copestake said this year's survey was completed before the city's embarrassing Stanley Cup riot in June, which could effect its violence rating.

(CP Photo)