OTA recently met with interested carriers, associations and groups to discuss the development of a Downtown Toronto Freight Delivery Plan.
The meeting was intended to review all the challenges different sectors face in servicing the downtown and to provide ideas to move forward a plan for all sectors.
It’s OTA’s belief that industry associations, individual companies and other groups need to come together to present a unified vision for how various sectors have their operational needs met while servicing the City of Toronto.
A few talking points that were discussed, include:
- Are there safety concerns resulting from certain city policies that might contribute to things such as more congested roadways, narrowing of infrastructure, or forcing heavy motor vehicles into close spaces with more vulnerable road users?
- Are there certain bylaws or enforcement practices that prevent shippers or retailers from changing their behavior or prohibit carriers from shifting some operations away from daytime to off-peak?
- Should aspects of the Toronto delivery system be more regimented so that expenses of servicing an already high-cost city are at least more predictable and easier to budget for?
Overall, the committee agreed that a more sectorial approach is required in order to identify each sector’s unique operational requirements and how various bylaws and enforcement polices affect different sectors.
Next Steps:
OTA has sent out a survey to participants to gauge their support for this project going forward, to collect more information on their specific operations and to suggest next steps.
Click here for the full agenda of OTA’s Downtown Toronto Freight Delivery Plan meeting:
