The Smart Freight Centre (SFC) has started assessing the impact of COVID-19 on freight flows and supply chains in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.
Changes in freight flow and congestion patterns before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic will be analyzed using:
- Traffic speed data from HERE Technologies;
- Truck telematics data from the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI); and
- Our interactions with several industry partners.
SFC will also study the effects of the Ontario provincial government’s new relaxation of noise restrictions on off-peak deliveries and supply chain resilience, as well as their eventual impacts on GHG emissions and air quality.
Access to the HERE Technologies and ATRI data for this research and analysis has been provided by Transport Canada. The SFC’s new Freight Data Warehouse will securely store the data and make it possible to develop freight transportation analytics and visualization capabilities.
Post-doctoral fellow Hasan Bayanouni, PhD student Kianoush Mousavi, MASc student Yaser (Mostafa) Kouchakzadeh, and UTTRI associated faculty Professor Matthew J. Roorda, Chair of the Smart Freight Centre, are leading this analysis.