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LENS 4: Potential Scope of Capacity and Policy Measures
Gateway and corridor strategies should go beyond infrastructure systems to address interconnected issues that directly impact how well the system works and how well Canada takes advantage of it.
Gateway and corridor strategies are about integration on several levels — across modes of transportation, between investment and policy, public and private sectors, and among levels of government. They will provide coherent frameworks for long-term planning and prudent investment among all the partners involved. While this can include public investment in new and expanded infrastructure where the need is demonstrated, it will also be essential to achieve maximum efficiency and capacity out of existing footprints. That will require integrated measures addressing issues of policy and administration, governance and operations, in addition to building infrastructure.
Port of Montreal
Shortsea Shipping
Shortsea shipping is a multi-modal concept involving the marine transportation of passengers and goods that do not cross oceans. In the North American context, this is shipping that takes place within and among Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Shortsea shipping is part of an efficient, integrated transport system for North America, and can help meet the commercial, social and environmental needs of the continent’s growing population and expanding trade. From an environmental perspective, for example, shortsea shipping can offer air quality improvement, reduce traffic congestion and mitigate noise pollution. By most indices, marine shipping tends to have lower environmental
To maximize the benefits of shortsea shipping, Transport Canada will continue to work with its North American shortsea shipping partners to explore the mutual benefits of shortsea shipping, identify mechanisms to mitigate barriers, implement trilateral promotional activities, investigate specific cross-border corridors, and ultimately develop a North American shortsea shipping strategy.
Choices among potential measures should be based on contribution to efficiency and competitiveness. They can include policies and investments that address:
CN/CPR Co-Production: Private sector actions advancing gateway efficiency
Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railway demonstrate that competitors can work together to improve the transportation system. Since 2000, the railways have operated a ‘directional running’ agreement — an arrangement known as co-production — along the 240-kilometre Fraser Canyon east of Vancouver. All westbound trains of both railways move on CN’s line, and all eastbound trains move on CPR’s line.
In 2004, the Greater Vancouver Gateway Council commissioned the Lower Mainland Rail Infrastructure Study to determine what rail infrastructure or operating changes would improve the efficiency of critical rail corridors in the B.C. Lower Mainland to meet future transportation demand. Several partners, including Transport Canada, sponsored the project and influenced its design. The report recommended that the railways coordinate operations, and that all stakeholders work with the railways to help resolve mainline capacity issues. In response, CN and CPR announced a series of additional co-production agreements to make rail operations more efficient for Port of Vancouver freight traffic, reducing the number of train movements on key sections of track in the Lower Mainland and improving the fluidity of rail operations over existing infrastructure.
In January 2006, CN and CPR announced a further agreement that extends the existing 'directional running' zone in the Fraser Canyon to the Vancouver ports and terminals, with CPR handling traffic on the South Shore and CN the North Shore. The agreement also improves the flow of freight to and from the ports with the operation of direct-to-destination trains that can completely bypass yards.
These co-production agreements result in system benefits including better customer service, faster transit times, less circuitous routing and increased freight densities. According to both CN and CPR, many opportunities remain for collaborative arrangements throughout Canada.
