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Transportation in Canada 1998 |
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14
Freight Transportation
In terms of volume, bulk commodities
traffic showed a decline due to the difficulties of Asian economies.
Canada - US trade was a source of increase in freight traffic.
Two chapters have already reported some freight transport activities:
the chapter on Transportation Infrastructure and the one on Transportation
and Trade. This chapter on Freight Transportation complements
the Trade chapter. It approaches the question of freight transportation
from a modal perspective.
A modal landscape of freight traffic gives a sense of the relative
use made of the different modes. The overview of the most recent
traffic information for each mode provides some commodity level
details and, when possible, a regional breakdown. The information
presented gives a sense of the inter-relationships between modes
and markets, but falls short of developing an intermodal/ multimodal
perspective. Changes in traffic level of a mode of transportation
can come from either changes in traffic volumes, modal shifts
or a mix of the two.
The coverage of modal freight activities is based on information
available and is subject to the limitations imposed by data availability.
Such limitations constrained the analysis. Yet it provides some
of the background to understand the price, productivity and financial
results findings presented in the last chapter of the report.
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