Best Practices in Urban Goods Movement

ABSTRACT Metrolinx, the regional transportation planning agency in the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area (GTHA), recently sponsored a major urban freight study. The study focused on -urban goods movement‖, meaning that it considered the movement of goods on the multi-modal urban transportation system as well as the system's connection with land use. Inter-urban goods movement modes (rail, air and marine) were considered only with regard to their terminals and the urban freight they generate. This paper focuses on the approximately 25 ‗best practices' that were identified as part of the background research for the study as potentially applicable to the GTHA. The best practices cover a broad range of perspectives: public and private sector; short-and long-term; capital improvements and system operations; transportation system and land use. They were derived from consultation with industry thought leaders and with area governments, and from a review of the international practical (i.e., as opposed to theoretical) literature. They are significant because they represent practical initiatives from the GTHA, Canada, the United States and around the world. Thus, these best practices should be of interest to other urban areas across Canada as they seek to address their own goods movement issues. Indeed, these best practices provide food for thought by Metrolinx and other public and private stakeholders in the GTHA for future initiatives. The paper begins by presenting a categorization of the best practices. It then describes the best practices, where they have been applied, key attributes and characteristics, measures of success, obstacles and how these were overcome