The Ministry of Transportation recently resumed data collection for the Commercial Vehicle Survey (CVS) in late April 2019. The survey will further support the Ministry’s understanding of road related freight to improve the efficient movement of goods across Ontario.
Ontario’s CVSprovide information about the movement of trucks and goods on provincial and municipal infrastructure and has been done approximately every five years since the 1970s. Similar to the 2012 CVS, MTO aims to collect around a total of 45,000 surveys across the Province from 2018 to 2022. The 2018 data collection was a pilot survey done at Trafalgar truck inspection station only.
Most surveys will be conducted away from the highway right of way and will not constrain traffic flows. The survey will be conducted at various locations, that include truck inspection stations, road side lay-bys, border crossings, intermodal rail terminals, Pearson and Hamilton airports, and some municipal roads.
The survey could take around 5 to 15 minutes to complete that would collect information about trip and commodity origin and destination, vehicle classification, weights and dimensions, commodity details, border crossing, and the trip route. MTO uses the information collected to improve our understanding of movement of goods by truck and to support transportation planning, highway safety and policy development.
Commercial trucks are randomly selected from the stream of traffic by MTO Transportation Enforcement Officers and asked to participate in the voluntary survey. Drivers who are not willing to participate will be released immediately. No personal information will be collected and there is no mechanism to trace back the driver with the collected survey data. Drivers are also provided an information card if requested.
The Ministry and the consultants selected to undertake the survey will ensure:
- the safety of all participants;
- adherence to the survey methodology and collecting data of high quality;
- that delays to commercial vehicle operators are kept to a minimum;
- that all the participants in the survey are treated with respect.