Paul Martin's Business Update - June 24th, 2014

It’s been said that Saskatchewan has two seasons: winter and construction. The summer season of road construction disrupts traffic to the point where even the most patient among us can get frustrated. But construction isn’t the only culprit in making traffic unusually dense.

Over the past five years we’ve also seen 120,000 new vehicles hit the roads, adding further to the congestion.

Since 2009, the total number of registered vehicles in the province has risen from 980,000 to 1.1 million. And the biggest increase was in off-road units such as construction equipment.

Interestingly, the number of motorcycles registered in Saskatchewan has gone down – perhaps another reason dealers have been irritated with tighter licensing rules. But the number of regular vehicles – cars and half-tons – has been steadily on the rise, reflecting the growth in our population base.

This change accounted for two-thirds of the total growth in vehicle counts. The number of trailers rose by 40,000, representing growth of 25 per cent increase in this category. But the number of off-road units almost doubled, largely because of the dramatic growth in the construction arena.