challenges facing express delivery services in canada's urban centres

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Institute of Housing & Mobility Challenges facing the EDS industry in Canada's urban centres Vancouver The City of Vancouver’s conclusive transportation policy document is the Transportation Plan of 1997. Progress reports and updates have been published since, but the 1997 plan remains the most recent complete policy document. With few expressways and a busy port, the issue of goods movement is an important one to Vancouver. This report is fairly practical, focussed on concrete plans and improvements as opposed to concepts and policies. But it is clear that the emphasis is on heavy and LTL freight transportation, with no mention of the needs of couriers or lighter operations. The words “courier”, “freight”, “messenger”, or “express delivery” do not appear anywhere in the document. Calgary The City of Calgary’s most recent policy document on the topic of transportation is the Calgary Transportation Plan of 2005. The plan recognizes the existing lack of accounting for commercial vehicles. It states that the “City should develop a policy that addresses the operating needs of commercial vehicles within the Centre City, while ensuring other modes of transport are not jeopardized” (Page 21). The plan states that the topic was studied when “a commodity travel survey was conducted in 2001 so that this activity could be included in transportation forecasting”, which determined that “commercial vehicles account for almost 13% of all daily trips (or 13,360 vehicle/day) into, out of, and through Calgary” (Page 39). The words ‘courier’, ‘messenger’ or ‘express delivery’ do not appear anywhere in this document. The plan states a need to “conduct a long term freight movement study, city wide and regionally” (Page 40). Although there is a lack of references to the courier industry in an otherwise comprehensive document, there appears to be an identification of the need for improvement. Edmonton The City of Edmonton has recently produced a comprehensive transportation document, accounting for all modes of transportation in their growing region. The Edmonton Transportation Master Plan was published in draft form in October 2008. The plan makes multiple references to the need for goods and services movement and reinforces how integral it is to the economy of Edmonton. The plan expresses the need to account for such movements in the planning and engineering of each specific road construction project. The document also refers to parking concerns with relations to goods movement, something of great importance to the courier industry. The report recognizes that “on-street parking serves two purposes: to facilitate access to businesses by customers, and to allow the delivery and pickup of goods. In this context, parking is typically shorter-term, and turnover of vehicles is encouraged through limited duration parking meters and time-limited parking and loading zones” (Page 62). Although this does offer a slightly more specific reference to courier-type operations, the document still makes no explicit mention of couriers, messengers or express delivery. Page 18
Institute of Housing & Mobility Challenges facing the EDS industry in Canada's urban centres Winnipeg The City of Winnipeg is lacking with regards to transportation policy. No transportation plan is available on the city’s website. The city’s official plan, Plan Winnipeg 2020 Vision – A Long Range Policy Plan for City Council contains no information on the topic of goods movement. The words “courier”, “freight”, “messenger”, or “express delivery” do not appear in the official plan. Hamilton The City of Hamilton presents itself as a hub for transportation due to its location within the Southern Ontario and Golden Horseshoe regions. With a freight-focussed airport, a port, and good highway access the issue of goods movement plays a major role in the city’s economy. This emphasis is made clear in the Hamilton Transportation Master Plan of May 2007. It states “Hamilton International [Airport] is an emerging air courier and cargo destination, handling about 93,000 tonnes of air cargo in the year 2003, composed of 60%-70% courier freight … The largest overnight package delivery companies that operate in Canada (UPS, FedEx, Purolator and Cargojet Canada) use Hamilton International Airport, and it is Canada’s largest integrated courier cargo airport” (Volume 3, Page 32). But even with the clear recognition of the role of couriers in the city’s economy, Hamilton’s Transportation Master Plan only focuses on highway and airport accessibility, treating the needs of intra-city local deliveries much the same as any other city. The document states that “commercial vehicles on the roads contribute to truck loading and unloading on streets and avenues, an excess of truck traffic on avenues and streets, and trucks using residential streets to avoid delays on congested streets or at traffic lights. This suggests the need to clearly define future land uses adjacent to transportation corridors and to regulate on- and off-street loading to maximize the efficiency of the existing goods movement network” (Volume 3, Page 32). No specific mentions of same-day delivery or messengers appear in the document. Toronto The City of Toronto does not have a specific transportation plan, instead choosing to include the issue of transportation in the city’s Official Plan of 2007. This includes a subsection on goods movement which emphasizes the importance of goods movement to the economic competitiveness of the city, but also states a need to manage and control goods movement to ensure a more efficient use of transportation resources. Potential means to maximize efficient use of the transportation system include “Joint distribution centres and consolidated delivery services” and “Increasing off-street loading, servicing and courier facilities” (Page 2-27). The word “courier” appears only once (as noted) in the document, while “express delivery” and “messenger” do not appear at all. Ottawa The City of Ottawa adopted a Transportation Master Plan in September 2003. The importance of goods transportation is emphasized throughout the document. It specifically mentions the value of maximizing commuter use of alternative modes of transport, such as public transit or bicycle, in Page 19
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