The Region of Peel, in Ontario, Canada, one of Canada’s most important concentrations of multimodal goods movement hubs and goods-generating industries, conducted a Strategic Goods Movement Network (SGMN) study during 2012 and 2013. The paper describes how the study team, guided by SGMN best practices, created the region’s first SGMN and successfully balanced the importance of facilitating efficient goods mobility with the Region’s goals for smart growth, quality of life and economic vitality. To achieve this balance, using visual treatments the study integrated public and private stakeholder input with truck movement data, geographic information system (GIS) layers and modeling outputs. Despite the disparate cross-section of agencies and individuals involved with reviewing and approving the study recommendations, the technical approach used by the research team conveyed the study’s results and proposals in an efficient, compelling, and balanced manner. The final strategy proposes an SGMN founded on a hierarchy of goods movement routes that optimizes the different types of truck movements serving the Region. The route hierarchy emphasizes directness, continuity, connectivity, and reliability for trucking operations. The SGMN is also designed to support Peel Region’s quality of life-oriented planning and development policies, thereby facilitating continuing efforts to achieve “peaceful coexistence” of both the goods movement industry and the Region’s residents and businesses. While this paper focuses on Peel, much of what was experienced is transferable to other areas facing similar goods movement challenges.
Publish Year: 2014
