On March 3, 2020, the Pembina Institute hosted Cities Taking Freight Action, a national urban freight forum. To support the national dialogue on urban freight and frame the forum’s conversations, the Pembina Institute published The next frontier for climate action: Decarbonizing urban freight in Canada, highlighting trends and actions in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax. This document provides a summary of event discussions on March 3, 2020, including feedback from attendees, a select sample of our live-tweets, and next steps.
Several major themes emerged throughout the day, including:
Data availability and access
Data on freight and goods movement must be better collected and monitored, and made easily accessible.
Support for demonstration pilots
A culture to test/pilot alternative delivery models and technologies at a small scale must be invested in and cultivated. Successful new approaches for urban deliveries can then be identified and scaled up.
Flexible and adaptive policies and regulations
Adaptable and flexible policies and regulations are needed to support a changing freight and goods movement landscape. To respond to major disruptions/ trends, businesses are increasingly testing and adopting alternative solutions to meet increased demands to move goods.
Strengthened collaboration
An ongoing national dialogue on urban freight and mobility in Canada is needed, which will require collaboration and partnerships across regions and sectors.
