IMTC Shortsea Shipping Study
Project Summary
Shortsea shipping is the movement of goods and people by water on routes that do not cross an ocean. While shortsea shipping is a historically prominent form of transport, today’s North American trade and travel are primarily served by highway and rail. But, as congestion on highways has worsened, Canada and the United States have acknowledged the need to jointly explore shortsea shipping’s potential to play a larger role in our continent’s transportation system.
With funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation and Transport Canada, the International Mobility and Trade Corridor Project (IMTC) completed a study of shortsea shipping to 1) determine the potential of shortsea shipping to serve a meaningful share of the expected growth in West Coast cross-border freight traffic, 2) describe the most feasible service type(s), and 3) suggest supporting actions that governments could take. This effort was split into two phases.
Phase I
In March, 2004, Transport Canada commissioned Phase I of the study—1) a profile of existing, West Coast cross-border coastal marine services and 2) an assessment of the factors that will affect the ability of coastal marine services to participate in the movement of cross-border freight. Phase I was completed by Cambridge Systematics, Inc. with Moffat & Nichol Engineers.
Summary of Phase I findings
Phase I final report
Phase II
As part of the overall goal of this two-phase study to determine if worsening congestion on highways and at land-border crossings can be reduced by shifting portions of current and/or future highway freight-flows to the marine mode, Phase II of this study completed an analysis of north-south commodity flow on the West Coast of North America. The study assessed the current and future viability of shortsea shipping alongside other modes serving this geography and completed more detailed analysis for the cross-border region of Washington State and British Columbia as well as other West Coast sub-regions that exhibit a potential to benefit from increased shortsea marine freight transportation..
Phase II final report
Photo courtesy of Rob Bellinger