Abstract Manager

The efficient movement of goods on urban roads is vital to supporting a competitive economy and to community wellbeing. However, goods movement is often a secondary consideration in urban transportation planning and analysis (modelling). When goods movement is considered, the focus is commonly on ways to manage or control the circulation of trucks, which often relies on the modelling of truck vehicle-trips. The reasons for why the trucks are moving – i.e., what the trucks are carrying – and the corridors they use are not typically considered. This vehicles-first approach contrasts with the modelling of passenger movement, which looks at the overall demand for travel first and the choice of modes second. As a result, sustainable goods movement and other plans miss a critical factor that determines the plans’ success. This approach also contrasts with how long haul (inter-urban) goods movement is often analyzed, with multi-modal commodity flows serving as the basis for a holistic analysis by individual modes – something that is critical to understanding mode shift potential for long-haul freight.

To better inform transportation planning decisions, TransLink commissioned an analysis of the value of the goods (generally, the “commodities”) being carried on Lower Mainland roads. The approach maps commodity tonnages and values onto the truck vehicle-trips that are generated, distributed and assigned in TransLink’s truck model. This allows a differentiation according to the truck model’s four market sectors: urban (by far the dominant activity), port-related, cross-border and domestic outside the Lower Mainland. The approach uses a variety of available data sources to estimate commodity flows and their values by market type, for mapping onto the modelled truck trips. In this way, the importance of individual road segments to different market sectors (and specific origins and destinations) can be better understood. The results will be used to inform decisions such as the designation of the region’s truck route network, the planning of rapid transit and Complete Streets corridors, and sustainability initiatives. The results could potentially serve as the basis to support broader analyses like goods movement’s contribution to the urban economy, industrial lands strategies and more.

A proof-of-concept has been developed. The paper will review the concept, the analytical approach, results and potential applications. The paper will also discuss possible next steps, focusing especially on data needs.