TORONTO — Ontario carriers have weighed in on New York State’s Transportation Plan for 2030, advising transport officials to focus on trade corridors and other system improvements.

The Ontario Trucking Association was recently invited to provide input into the transportation plan, which highlights the current and future importance of the trucking industry to the New York economy, surrounding states, as well as north eastern Canadian provinces.

Truck-bound Ontario-N.Y. trade is worth $15 billion a year and 94 percent of total of all trade between the two jurisdictions is moved by truck.

“Road infrastructure, and strategic investment in intermodal facilities, is the key to continued economic growth,” wrote Stephen Laskowski, OTA VP of Economics and the Environment, in a March 24 letter to the New York State Department of Transportation.

Better decisions on construction, funding, and
international management of Peace Bridge needed: OTA

According to Laskowski, there are four main areas of the plan that are of particular interest to OTA:

Preliminary Designation of Trade Corridors:

“The identification of key on-road freight corridors beyond the borders of New York and into Ontario (Golden Horseshoe roadways) is critical,” according to Laskowski. “Failure by the State of New York or the Province of Ontario to reinvest in these identified roadways is to the detriment of both the state and provincial economies. Ontario and New York State infrastructure investment must not be made in silos — the plan seems to recognize this reality.”

OTA is also encouraging the state to include the proposed Mid-Peninsula Highway as a potential foreign infrastructure project that stands to create significant benefits for the State of New York and strengthen the trade corridor system as identified in the transportation plan.

Improving System Through Improved Operational Techniques:

OTA agrees with the plan’s direction that the efficient operation of the transportation network can also in part be achieved through the strategic use of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and other operational techniques, Laskowski said, adding he was encouraged by the ITS references in the plan.

“The designation of truck routes and possible provision of exclusive truck lanes to minimize conflicts with other vehicles within designated trade corridors will facilitate the movement of goods, particularly in the downstate region,” he writes. “The utilization of ‘real time technology’ is essential to enable transportation operators to respond to changing conditions on their systems.

OTA also suggested N.Y. could examine the potential of a technology currently being tested by the Peace Bridge Authority and Transport Canada which measures real time data of commercial trucks using the bridge.

Capacity and Service Improvements for Goods Movement in the Downstate Region:

OTA is, however, disappointed that the plan still seeks to promote rail over truck transportation, although the association is supportive of strategic investment in intermodal yards to improve truck access, Laskowski said.

“If the impetus for this aspect of the plan is motivated by environmental concerns, these concerns are not based on the facts regarding truck and locomotive emission controls,” he said, pointing out that truck diesel emissions have been significantly reduced since the 1970s thanks to EPA regulations that are far tougher than any environmental mandates placed on railway locomotives.

Capacity and Service Improvements for Passenger Travel in the Downstate Region:

Pleased, New York’s identification of issues at the various bridge crossings, OTA offered the following comments:

“Positive decisions regarding construction, funding and international management of customs and border protection facilities at the Peace Bridge need to be made in the very near future. It is time for positive action on these matters (including support and action on the issue of Shared Border Management as it pertains to the Land Pre-Clearance Pilot project scheduled for the Peace Bridge),” OTA stated.

It would also be beneficial, continued OTA, for the planned upgrades to the U.S. Customs Plaza at Lewiston, N.Y. be expedited — at a minimum to increase the commercial primary booth capacity to seven commercial lanes to equal that of the recent expansion at the Peace Bridge.