infrastructure

Peel testing off-peak deliveries

BRAMPTON, Ont. – Peel Region, on the western edge of Toronto, will run a pilot project to test off-peak deliveries between July and December – and it has recruited some major operations to participate. Participants include the LCBO, Loblaw Companies, PepsiCo, Walmart Canada, and Weston Foods. The region’s Smart Freight Centre will support the project with expertise from the University of Toronto, McMaster University and York University. Deloitte Canada will be advisors on the project. The goal is to help optimize highways and other major arteries in the area, focusing on where freight is moving, maximizing existing infrastructure, and seeing what infrastructure could benefit from new investment.

Truckers hoping to drive through change in Ontario’s north

TIMMINS, Ont. – The Ontario general election is well underway and getting a lot of air time, but no one would fault you if you hadn’t heard of the Northern Ontario Party (NOP), or its two truck-driving candidates. The party, as its name would suggest, is only located in northern Ontario and prides itself on having no whip or central campaign to force candidates to stay on a single message. That riding-first policy was part of what attracted Shawn Poirier and Gary Schaap to the smaller party. The two drivers each say the lack of party line to toe mean they get to focus on issues that matter to them and their potential constituents – concerns that are shared by those in the trucking industry.

CTA announces infrastructure wish list

TORONTO, ON - The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) released its trade infrastructure priority list today, providing it to Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau. The CTA says the list comes after consultations with its provincial associations to gather input on building stronger, more efficient trade corridors. The CTA created the list after Garneau announced more than $2 billion for the Trade and Transportation Corridors Initiative (TTCI), in early July. The fund is designed to strengthen Canada's trade infrastructure, including ports, waterways, airports, roads, bridges, border crossings, rail networks and the interconnectivity between them. The CTA's wish list meets the criteria of the program, and is being used to lobby for funds for these projects. CTA president Stephen Laskowski, says the list isn't exhaustive, but covers both specific projects, and general areas for consideration.

Cash-strapped Alberta rethinks approach to highways

BANFF, AB - A cash-strapped Alberta government is rethinking the way priorities are set for the province's highway network and related maintenance - both for the short term and decades into the future. Every proposed infrastructure project must now contribute to a "triple bottom line" that considers social, economic and environmental impacts, Alberta Transportation Assistant Deputy Minister Shaun Hammond said in a briefing during the Alberta Motor Transport Association's annual convention. Decisions to twin a highway will be based on more than traffic counts alone. And "you will see more and more (environmental issues) in the next few months." The department is already reaching out to the association in the search for ways to reduce emissions around Red Deer, where particulates from diesel engines have played a role in creating the worst air quality in Canada. And Alberta Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Brian Mason pledged earlier in the day to begin research into fuel-saving wide-base single tires "as soon as possible".