Goods movement is a backbone of our local and regional economies, but increased freight activity, particularly road freight, has environmental and community impacts. Moreover, growing road congestion is a mounting economic concern, particularly for the goods movement sector.
We need to plan for how goods move to and through our communities in order to support the goods movement sector in becoming more efficient. Municipalities have a pivotal role to play in planning for goods movement given their role in regulating land use, managing road networks, investing in infrastructure, and conducting local climate change planning.
To expand municipal action on freight, it is important to understand the current status of, and barriers to, municipal goods movement planning. This report presents the results of an online survey of 23 upper-, lower- and single-tier municipalities from across Ontario, interviews and a focus group that we conducted to examine these questions.
