From “Metro Vancouver and TransLink Regional Update”
Port’s Choices Affect Land Use
Regional Planning, February 1
Between 1991-2006 jobs related to the ports in Metro Vancouver declined slightly and changed significantly. The regional planning committee heard a presentation on February 1 from Professor Peter V. Hall (Urban Studies, Simon Fraser University) on trends in port logistics employment from 1991-2006.
Hall said that contrary to what people would assume, “port growth doesn’t necessarily translate into job growth.” Overall employment in the sector declined slightly between 1991 and 2006 with relative decline in water, rail and truck and growth in warehouse.
Hall explained that during this time period of great expansion, there was a decrease in the use of rail and water but an increase in warehousing, which was a shift in employment.
In the region, more “trans loading” is happening which means that the import channels are changing. A container might now go to a warehouse, then into another container and then sent off on a truck, creating more jobs in warehousing and local trucking.
Hall said that warehousing is cheaper than moving stuff on the docks, which “might be encouraging more movement than we want.” Instead, a container may move 2-3 times in the region for reorganization.
“We’ve made it cheaper with land policies and more roads,” explained Hall.
The Cities of Surrey and Richmond have difficulty with truck transportation and illegal parking on farmland. Metro Vancouver’s board of directors has voted to send a letter to federal Transport Minister Denis Lebel suggesting the port’s proposed land-use plan not include any designation to allow non-agricultural uses on the agricultural land reserve.
“Fewer”, surely. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Grammar%20Nazi
Professor Hall’s statement that “warehousing is cheaper than moving stuff on the docks” seems to contradict current logistics theory that ‘just in time inventory’ methods are most effective for getting goods to where they are needed, when they are needed. Companies have eliminated/consolidated their warehouses,reducing inventory storage costs by using trucks on publicly funded highways as ‘rolling’ warehouses. And what is the impact on the region’s air quality and green house gas emissions of all this “trans loading” (i.e. moving around) of containers by truck?
When it comes to port expansion and jobs issues, rarely discussed, is the impact of the expanded Panama Canal on Port Metro Vancouver’s future. A March 26, 2011 Globe and Mail article estimates the Canal expansion could siphon off up to 25% of west coast ports’ traffic. Obviously, the impact will be greater on California’s ports but there is bound to be some traffic movement away from Vancouver to Atlantic ports.