Smart Data
ROAD, RAIL AND/ OR BY SHIP?
Data analytics partnership delves into the best modal balance to move goods in Southern Ontario BY JULIE GEDEON
T
he Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA) has teamed up with the McMaster Institute for Transportation and Logistics (MITL) to develop Fluid Intelligence: an analytical partnership focused on the various modal capabilities within Southern Ontario. The aim is to identify opportunities to collaboratively and effectively employ road, rail and marine transportation to maximize efficiencies and minimize emissions.
to develop insights into how to best use existing modal capacities to reduce strain elsewhere.
“We recognize the need to decarbonize transportation while bolstering supply chain resiliency,” shares Ian Hamilton, HOPA’s President /CEO. “We can significantly address these challenges by achieving a better, more creative balance among transportation modes based on data analysis and a clear understanding of the critical role each plays.”
The initiative is among several projects being supported by Transport Canada across the country to improve multimodal networks.
MITL expects Fluid Intelligence to help leverage key data and analytics from existing information networks
“Planning supply chain logistics for the truly holistic movement of goods is still in early stages,” says Mark Ferguson, MITL’s Senior Research Associate. “We’re hoping Fluid Intelligence will assist in this regard based on the best available data and analytics.”
INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR CONGESTION CHALLENGES Fluid Intelligence will invite shippers, businesses and/or policymakers to present their supply chain or congestion challenges. Using its data and analytical tools, Fluid Intelligence will help to
devise innovative solutions to streamline supply chains. The collaboration’s first year-long project is to determine how shortsea shipping might figure more largely into multimodal equations. “We hope by sharing the findings, we will help industry to recognize potential opportunities and respond by developing and/or supporting new services,” Ferguson says. Copious transportation data is gathered in Canada but it’s not always readily shared nor transparent. “While we have a model that protects proprietary information, we recognize that Canada must fill certain information gaps to compete effectively with the United 27
