The Inter-Municipal Planning Subcommittee met on Thursday, December 9, 2004 at 8:15 a.m. in the Council Chamber, Regional Administrative Headquarters, 10 Peel Centre Dr., Brampton.

Councillor E. Moore presided.

A quorum of voting members was not present, and in accordance with Section III-4(f) of the Procedural By-law 54-1999, as amended, the Inter-Municipal Planning Subcommittee (IMPSC) received information from staff.

1. DECLARATIONS OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

3. DELEGATIONS/PRESENTATIONS

4. REPORTS

a) Study of Goods Movement in Peel: Strategic Overview
Presentation by Murray McLeod, Manager, Transportation Planning

Murray McLeod, Manager, Transportation Planning provided members with an overview of Goods Movement in the Region of Peel.

At its meeting on October 7, 2004, General Committee recommended that the Goods Movement study receive an additional review by area municipalities, with discussion to be held with the Regional Official Plan Strategic Update (ROPSU) Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) on November 3, 2004 and bring the Goods Movement study to the Inter-Municipal Planning Subcommittee (IMPSC) on December 9, 2004.

The three objectives of the Goods Movement Study are:

• develop a better understanding of Peel goods movement issues and challenges in consultation with the industry and stakeholders;
  
  
• develop policies and next steps for Regional Council approval; and
  
  
• build a foundation of knowledge and partnerships to implement the policies.

Staff advised that the Region of Peel Goods Movement study is groundbreaking and unique in the Province of Ontario. Also, the key messages are:

• Peel Region is a "supernode" for goods movement in Ontario and Canada with greater than 1,000 freight attractors, generators and service providers, 75 per cent of truck movements originate in Peel, Pearson receives 93 per cent of the Province's air cargo, and over 4000 intermodal movements in central Ontario;
  
  
• Efficient and reliable goods movement is critical to Peel's economic vitality;
  
  
• Peel's freight network works well now, but there are looming threats;
  
  
• Better information, coordination and long term planning are necessary to maintain and enhance the freight network; and
  
  
• Goods movement is mainly a private sector activity; strong public/private alliances are essential for success.

Peel also has an excellent transportation network with:

• Pearson International Airport;
• Rail and truck Intermodal;
  • Bramalea Canadian National (CN) Rail;
  • Milton Canadian Pacific (CP); and
  • Vaughan Canadian Pacific (CP); and
    
    
• Expressway Networks;
  • Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW); and
  • Highways 401, 403, 407, and 410.

Trade between the United States and Ontario exceeds $400 billion with a large market within two-days driving from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Peel contributes a great deal to Province of Ontario's trade surplus.

The Peel multimodal freight system keeps businesses operating in the Region of Peel competitive due to:

• Excellent access to business opportunities worldwide; and
  
  
• Peel is a Manufacturing Hub: 37 per cent of the GTA's industrial floor space is located in the Peel area; the GTA is the third largest industrial complex in North America after Los Angeles and Chicago.

As it relates to employment, transportation and distribution accounts for 9 per cent of employment throughout Peel; whereas in the City of Mississauga, 14 per cent or 1 in 7 jobs is located in the transportation and distribution sector.

As illustrated below, truck trip growth on Peel roads exceeds growth of auto trips, population and employment:

Click on link to view chart: Percentage Growth

A stakeholder survey was conducted in Peel as it relates to the transportation network, with positive results being reported due to Peel's highways, transportation network and closeness to the US/North American market. It is important for the Planning process to protect road networks. However, there are threats to the road network, such as increased road congestion and the transportation and distribution sector are tending to spread-out which create longer truck trips to the highways.

To support developing a roads strategy, Planners will have to collect additional freight statistics as the congestion on the corridors is spreading congestion onto local roads. Although anticipated to absorb traffic, Highway 407 is being underutilized by truck traffic possibly due to the high toll rates.

There are good examples of Goods Movement Planning Partnerships, such as:

• Montreal - Interregional forum for goods movement; 70 public and private partners from across the region have developed several reports and strategies to deal with their unique issues;
• Orlando, Florida - There is a concern with the conflicts developing between the goods movement sector and the tourist sector, and their forum developed a goods and services strategy to address this conflict;
• Seattle, Washington - Developed private/public roundtable partnerships to review goods movement; and
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Freight planning program which receives information from both a task force and an advisory committee.

Peel hosted a consultation event with key leaders in the industry to discuss goods movement planning; additional information from the consultation session is available in the Goods Movement Study report. A few messages from the Peel forum were:

• Need new partnerships - Intergovernmental and public-private; leadership; and funding;
• Collect and share goods movement data and information;
• Take early action to address "hot spots";
• Identify freight corridors and protect and enhance in balance with other urban needs; and
• Land Use Planning - Additional consideration of goods movement and the economy.

Three policy areas were developed as a result of consultation with stakeholders, they are as follows:

I. Partnerships

Goods Movement is a Shared Responsibility between many organizations:

• New Partnerships are critical for success
  • private sector - public sector;
  • Intergovernmental;
  • Communities and neighbourhoods; and
    
    
• Create a Goods Movement Liaison Group to guide future actions.

II. Goods Movement Corridors

A Goods Movement Network should be developed expeditiously for Peel:

• Joint effort by Peel and area municipalities;
  
• Critical goods movement corridors and activity centres to be assessed and prioritized;
  
• Need additional freight data; and
  
• Valuable tool for negotiation of policies and funding with provincial and federal governments.

III. Goods Movement Policy and Funding Coordination

Address goods movement problems and improve facilities in coordination with other jurisdictions:

• Coordinate goods movement improvement funding policies with the provincial and federal governments;
  
• Develop a plan for enhancing coordination of municipal truck restrictions; and
  
• Area municipalities are encouraged to include consideration of sustainable goods transportation in their planning processes.

The next steps were identified as Regional and area municipal staff working together to:

• Strengthen Regional goods movement policies through ROPSU;
  
• Build and strengthen partnerships with the private and public sectors by forming a Peel Goods Movement Liaison Group;
  
• Define the Goods Movement Network in Peel;
  
• Collect data on freight movement patterns and characteristics in Peel; and
  
• Initiate discussions with other levels of government regarding funding and policy coordination.

Peel can take advantage of opportunities which have recently shown themselves, such as interest in partnerships from the Goods Movement Industry and the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is soon to release a Goods Movement overview for Ontario; Peel needs to be ready to comment on this provincial document with an action plan. Transport Canada has also expressed an interest in Peel due to the Region's national hub for intermodal freight. As a result, there is the possibility of funding for joint initiatives.

Councillor Lyons asked for clarification on the types of partnerships that would be developed with the federal government.
Murray McLeod, Manager of Transportation Planning advised that the federal government is interested in the intermodal network; freight transportation efficiencies across the country; CN's Brampton rail terminal is part of the intercontinental network and one of the largest intermodal terminals in the country. The federal government wants to ensure that the system can expand to keep up with growth; Vancouver is having difficulty keeping up with port capacity given the importing from China; air quality issues; and reviewing and updating their 1998 National Highway System which will now involve provincial and municipal links to intermodal terminals. Tom AppaRao, Director of Transportation Planning advised that there is a lack of data on Goods Movement, hence the federal government is interested in data collection partnerships. They need to create partnerships to develop creative ideas, and these partnerships must include the private sector as they use the networks on a daily basis. The private sector is willing to pursue a partnership especially if senior levels of government are involved.

Councillor Lyons suggested that an inter-regional partnership would be a good first step to draw the attention of the federal government.

Councillor Lyons asked whether the increased truck trips are generated mostly within Peel or through Peel as well. Murray McLeod advised that the 7.5 per cent was from a Cordon Count Program and it picks up all truck trips that are within and through Peel across the east and west boundaries. Tom AppaRoao suggested that as Peel is approaching build-out, we are facing conflicts between auto and truck traffic; therefore, we need a comprehensive strategy including truck corridor and priority setting for goods movement.

Councillor Lyons enquired how the existing rail system encourages new industries to locate in Peel to make better use of rail corridors, for example the Streetsville-Orangeville line. Murray McLeod advised that the study has not looked at the individual rail corridors, however, a review is scheduled in the next steps and it is very important to capture these uses in a Goods Movement Study.

Chair Kolb requested clarification on what actions would be taken as a result of the recommendations. Peel has three major highways, therefore more homework would need to be done to direct industries to appropriate areas to allow effective goods movement; there is a real need to identify how the goods movement network functions in Peel.

Chair Kolb noted that the recommendations need to work for Peel today and in the future. He reflected on discussions with Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) which requested that Highway 50 be expanded to address the increased truck traffic. The CPR report suggested that after a 5th lane expansion, Highway 50 would not need additional lanes for 12 years; Peel is now in the process of expanding the highway to a seven-lane road and we have yet to reach the 12th year.

Chair Kolb suggested that any strategy needs an action plan to address growth, not simply recommendations. Once there is an action plan, it should be presented to the stakeholders who attended the initial meeting.

Murray McLeod agreed with Chair Kolb regarding the development of action plans, and advised that Council would need to approve the directions of the goods movement strategy and confirm the proposed action plans. The action plans will have impacts on the road, rail and air movements.

Tom AppaRao suggested that it is important to identify the key transportation corridors and how to protect and enhance the corridors. Once identified and policies approved by Council, stakeholders could then need to address an action plan. Peel staff are knowledgeable of transportation issues, such as what is outlined in the Caledon Transportation Study (CATS) as it relates to Highway 427.

Chair Kolb requested clarification on the collection of traffic data on the major roads so as to identify where the congestion is and stated that the plan needs to have good solid traffic data which could then be submitted to the working group for consideration.

Bob Sasaki, Manager, Transportation Planning, City of Mississauga advised Chair Kolb that although the City does intersection counts, staff relies on the Region of Peel cordon count data for a comprehensive viewpoint.

Chair Kolb requested staff to consider the development of Item 4, of Next Steps, of the staff report, in support of an action plan which will give Council a better understanding of what needs to be undertaken and in an effort to bring something of substance to the other levels of government.

Councillor Stewart stated that Peel is a leader in the industry which is driven by the global economy. She questioned what air, rail and road traffic represent in goods movement. She further stated that if trade from China decreases, there may be an impact in the shift of goods movement, road traffic may increase, and we need to understand how to deal with such pressures.

Councillor Moore stated that the value of the Canadian dollar will also have an impact on the truck traffic between the U.S.A and Canada.

Murray McLeod advised that there are emerging markets and they will have impacts on the network. Technology in the goods movement industry is advancing at an increased pace and can provide information on where and when products will arrive. Walmart is doing most of the leading edge research with radio tags and product tracking; Peel needs to be aware of these trends and be prepared to address these emerging trends.

Tom AppaRao suggested that goods movement is a small component of a bigger economic international trade scenario which will require several partners to bring their understanding of goods movement to the study; we need a long term vision, a broader economic study to fully determine long range impacts. A follow-up study might address these economic aspects.

Chair Kolb expressed the view that it would be beneficial if staff were to review and further develop the study of goods movement in Peel to give further consideration of specific actions as next steps, and forward an updated report to the January 20, 2005 General Committee meeting.

A quorum of voting members was not present thirty minutes after the scheduled commencement time and in accordance with Section III-4(d) of Procedural By-law 54-1999, as amended, the meeting stood adjourned at 9:15 a.m.