The New Freight and Goods Movement Strategy and Congestion Management in Toronto

A 2013 report from the C.D. Howe Institute suggests that congestion costs our City approximately $11 billion in lost productivity every year. Traffic and congestion take a heavy toll on Torontonians, with impacts ranging from commute times to air quality. As Toronto continues to expand, the demands placed on our roads and infrastructure grow in parallel.

The movement and distribution of goods and freight is one of the most significant contributors to traffic congestion. COVID-19 has accelerated the rise of e-commerce, with online shopping comprising a growing portion of Canada's retail industry. We must face the practical challenges presented by the increased utilization of our streets for delivery and transportation of goods with innovative, forward-thinking policies.

These are the motivating factors behind the Freight and Goods Movement Strategy (FGMS) that City Council adopted in October 2020, which aims to set standards for and increase coordination of freight and goods movement in our City.

The FGMS involves 24 strategic actions including:

• Promoting of Off-Peak Delivery (OPD) as a standard practice;

• Encouraging technologies that minimize noise impacts of truck operations;

• Establishing a Strategic Truck Network to identify corridors/alternative routes; and

• Encouraging the use of zero- and low-emission freight vehicles.

As the former Chair of Transportation, I introduced the City's first Congestion Management Plan (CMP) in 2014 to better manage gridlock and congestion through innovative policy, technology, and operations strategies. The Freight and Goods Movement Strategy contributes to the overall mission of the CMP and will allow us to harness the greatest utility from our infrastructure, driving the economic activity of our City and mitigating the negative impacts of congestion on Torontonians.