SEEING CANADIAN TRANSPORT AT FIRST HAND
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• by T. A. Ennis A report of the Chartered Institute of Transport's 1971 study tour of Eastern Canada.
ONE does not have to be a transport operator to appreciate the part which transport must have played in Canada's development since the early settlement days. As our BOAC "707" swept in over the Atlantic coast we flew over endless miles of hills, forests, lakes and rivers and it was not until we neared Montreal that we saw real signs of development. The immediate impression was of the vastness of the country and its scattered population.
Montreal presents itself as a city which followed a fairly average development pattern until the decision was made to stage EXPO '67, and at that point everything began to happen. A magnificent subway system was built, an excellent road system was completed, hotels and other public buildings were constructed—all with the purpose of tying in with EXPO. An artificial island was built in the St. Lawrence to house the hundreds of exhibition buildings and the entire programme was completed in a period of four years. All this concentrated activity is said to have contributed to some extent to the subsequent recession experienced in Eastern Canada.
Savage winters
A major problem facing the Province of Quebec—and most of the other provinces—is the severity of its winters, with temperatures down to —40'F, and frequent reference was made to the vicious conditions suffered during the winter of 1970/71, which was the worst for many years. Apart from the weather bringing almost all forms of transport to a standstill on several occasions, the cost of snow clearance in Montreal City constitutes a continuing financial burden for its taxpayers. Mountains of packed snow, 40 to 50ft high, were still lying on waste ground at the end of May!
Our first professional engagement was a tour of the Air Canada Base at Dorval Airport, Montreal. It seemed appropriate to start with air transport as it is the most recent and rapidly expanding arm of passenger and freight communications and is making a very significant contribution to the economy and to the development of the nation. The growth of the country and the distribution of population has been governed by the development of the waterways, followed by the railroads and then by the roadways. The airways have now introduced a new dimension which, among other things, has made it possible to establish communities in rich mineral areas where formerly it would have been almost impossible to maintain acceptable living conditions for the major part of the year. Outlying areas in all parts of the country can now be linked through local services with the larger towns and cities and thus participate more readily in the general growth and prosperity of the nation.
Canadian National Railways representatives organized a tour of their Montreal Humpyard the following morning. This consists of a man-made hill built in a marshalling yard, to the top of which trains are shunted and from where individual wagons are selected and directed by computer and run by gravity to their various assembly points within the yard. There are more than 80 lines and about 160 miles of track within the Humpyard, which could be compared to a postal sorting office where wagons, instead of letters, are received from all areas and then redistributed. The daily throughput of the yard is about 6,000 wagons and an inspection and maintenance system is incorporated. Wagons from the New York Central, Union Pacific, Acheson Topeka and Santa Fe and many other lines are among the throughput and repairs are carried out, on a reciprocal basis, on behalf of these lines and then charged back to them.
Owner-driver development
An inspection of Maislin Bros. Transport Ltd, facilities was arranged for the afternoon. This firm, which was founded as an owner-driver operation 25 years ago is now operating approximately 350 vehicles. Maislins has considerable involvement in cross-border (Canadian /US) traffic, and as a consequence has a number of independent customs brokers located in its Montreal head office building. It also has an energetic. enthusiastic and successful management team headed by the company president, Mr Sam Maislin.
Five brothers participated in the family firm's early growth. and now the second generation of the family is operating at management level. In 1970 the annual revenue was $ 35m; their target return on revenue is 10 per cent, but in the first quarter of 1971 they achieved 4.8 per cent—very much in line with the national average. Maintenance costs in 1970 were quoted' as 13 per cent of total revenue, which seemed very high to me.
The company carries its own insurance up to $25,000. Vehicle life is generally fixed at four years or 750,000 miles. Tyre mileages are recorded on hubometers and the data processed through an IBM system. Mileages (on Firestone or Goodyear equipment) were quoted at 85/90,000 on front axles and 140,000 on tandems. Tyre costs average about 1 cent a mile. A trailer /tractor ratio of five to one is operated.
The company is unionized, recognizing the Canadian branch of the Teamsters Union and the International Brotherhood of Machinists. Drivers are selected with great care and have a probationary period of 30 days. during which they can be dismissed without the company having to give a reason. Vehicles are allocated to, or taken by, different drivers each day--and non-reporting of defects is punishable, by union agreement, suspension or dismissal.
Drivers go through a week-long induction course and great emphasis is placed on training and safety. All personnel are expected to spend one hour per month—of their own time—on training and there are awards for accident-free driving.
Vehicles appeared to be less well maintained than those in the UK. and, generally, presented a shabbier appearance. This applied not only to Maislins but seemed to be the position in the various parts of Canada which were visited. It may be largely because there is no annual inspection of vehicles made by the provincial or federal governments and to some extent by the difficult winter conditions under which they operate.
The Maislin trucks are mostly engaged in long-haul work and they operate an effective system of maintenance check-outs on all vehicles commencing long-distance runs. These runs, which may involve crossing several provincial and US State boundaries, necessitate the trucks being taxed for each of these areas, and vehicles incur annual road taxes of about $4000 (£1650). There is no provision made for de-taxing in the event of traffic decreasing, and during the course of our visit there seemed to be quite a number of vehicles standing idle.
Canadian hauliers operate on a published tariff basis—something similar to the US system. and consequently they depend to a great extent on the quality of their service to sell their business. Their drivers work a 40-hour week at $3.80 (£1.58) per hour (£63.30 per basic week). Time and a half and double time apply to overtime, weekend working respectively etc.
On Thursday morning the party was welcomed by representatives of the Montreal Harbour Board and the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority. The Seaway construction which opens the St. Lawrence to deep water vessels for a distance of over 2,300 miles caused considerable anxiety in Montreal, where it was felt it would lead to a by-passing of the port. This has not, in fact, happened to any serious extent and major dock and warehousing improvements are currently being carried out at Montreal Harbour. There is a high degree of mechanization on the docks and in the warehouses with evidence of a rapidly increasing container traffic to and from the European ports.
The Metro
The Montreal Urban Transit Commission acted as hosts on another visit, on which we travelled via the metro system. which consists of a network of 26 stations spread over a 16-mile trackway. It was constructed by "cut and cover" and the design of the stations was entrusted to 26 different architects who have produced what must be one of the world's most attractive subways. Mechanically, it is based largely on the Paris Metro and the trains operate on rubber wheels. The coaches carry additional wheels which can be dropped in the event of a puncture occurring, but they do .obtain very high mileages from their tyres because of the perfect operating conditions.
Before construction of the metro was commenced, all other avenues were explored in an effort to solve or alleviate the city's traffic problems. It has now been pronounced an unqualified success and plans are already being prepared for its extension. It is very popular with commuters due to its comfortable and pleasant conditions during the winter season and it incorporates excellent shopping facilities. Great emphasis is placed on cleanliness and a strict ban on smoking is observed.
And so by train to Quebec, where a reception and luncheon was given by the Provincial Ministry of Transport and Communications in the Provincial Parliament Buildings. This was a magnificently staged affair and was followed by a paper given by the Assistant Deputy Minister of Transport in the provincial government, M. M-G. Baril.
Mr Baril was concerned that federal government was extending its authority and was anxious that autonomy in road transport could be retained by the province—unlike the situation with rail and air services. Because of this control of the rail and air services, Quebec regarded itself as having become a funnel between Ontario, the commercial centre of Canada. and the poorer Maritime Provinces in the East. • The Ministry was aware that vehicle maintenance standards were not up to those in the UK, but it intends to achieve this in due course. In the meantime a driver examination scheme has been introduced. This requires a medical examination every two years and has already resulted in many unfit drivers having their licences withdrawn. Our visit to Ottawa, the Federal Capital of Canada. commenced with a tour of the city, and an item on the programme there was an interesting paper on "Transport in Canada" given by M. Yves Pratte. chairman and chief executive. Air Canada. He said that provision was made by the federal government for the operation of local short-distance services by small airlines. This. in due course, had become a problem for his company, as these small airlines tended to buy aircraft which were somewhat larger than they had an immediate requirement for and, in an effort to make them pay, they attempted to cut into the longer distance runs.
We flew from Ottawa to Toronto, where the usual massive road-building operations were in evidence and the 12-lane highway allowed for quick transit from the airport to the city centre.
Liquid hypotenuse The Toronto programme began with a visit to the Ontario Science Centre. which cost S 35m and must be one of the finest science museums in the world. Among the attractions are sections for transportation and engineering, mathematics and geometry. communications and the measurement of time There are multitudes of working models which are very simply and effectively explained or operated. For example, the visual proof of one Euclid's solutions is demonstrated by having a square water tank mounted on the hypotenuse of a triangle and when the content is emptied it exactly fills the square tanks mounted on the other two sides of the triangle.
The afternoon session commenced with a discussion on "Urban Transport in Toronto". conducted by members of the Toronto Transport Commission. The major development in Toronto's urban affairs has been the formation of Metro--the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto in 1954 to co-ordinate the efforts and planning of the 13 municipalities which constituted Greater Toronto. In pre-"Metro" times transportation. policing, sewage, firefighting. and so on were the responsibility of the individual boroughs and, with the rapid post-war expansion, the lack of co-ordinated planning was bringing the area to the point of financial and environmental disaster.
Metro has also been responsible for the development of the efficient subway system—although the initial stretch was already in preparation at the time Metro was established. Like the Montreal system. the cut and cover method of construction was employed, but conventional metal wheels are used on the coaches and the stations are much more functional and less attractive than Montreal's extravagant and colourful designs.
In addition to the subway system. Toronto continues to operate trams and trofleybuses. These services appear to function efficiently and, despite trends elsewhere. consideration is now being given to re-equipping the fleets.
Metro controls all public transport in the area, with the exception of taxis, which it indirectly controls through the issue of licences. Fares are reviewed, on average. every three years. but this frequency may have to be stepped up because of escalating labour Costs, Aggressive railways Included in our programme was a visit to the headquarters of the Automotive Transport Association of Ontario. the equivalent of our Road Haulage Association. It has an annual income of $500,000 and its major activities are centred on gross vehicle weiehts, education and manpower. The general manager. Mr J. 0. Goodman told us about the difficulties of the trucking industry in Canada and said that profitability had suffered during the past few years. This was due in part to a general recession and in part to a change in attitudes by the railways, which had become aggressive and competitive.
The average profit of a Canadian haulier was quoted as 5 per cent on revenue before tax, with wages accounting for 40.6 per cent of revenue. Road operators have expanded their volume of traffic over the past 10 years by 52 per cent but during the same period rail carryings have increased by 62 per cent and air freight by 275 per cent. In the province of Ontario there are over 9000 carriers operating a total of 59,000 trucks.
The provincial governments are opposing a new Transport Act being prepared in Ottawa. as it would give the federal government the right to dictate the types of vehicles which could operate on the highways, but would leave the provinces with the responsibility of constructing and maintaining the road systems to take them.
The provincial governments are gradually getting together to achieve some degree of uniformity on taxation. licensing and other trucking regulations, as at present provincial legislation differs considerably and causes what would appear to be a great deal of unnecessary difficulty in inter province movements.
In view of the problems in making city-centre deliveries in the UK. it was interesting to learn that evening and night deliveries are not particularly extensive or successful in Canada. The major hurdle seems to be getting people willing to work abnormal hours.
At a Motorway's (Ontario) Ltd. depot we saw that warehousing. of personal effects was done on a containerized basis which, in addition to facilitating handling, yielded security benefits. These containers were 711' x 711 x 5ft and the Motorways sales manager said there were some items which had been in store for over 20 years! The charge per container was about £1 a week.
Go-Transit and dial-a-bus An important project sponsored by the Ontario Highways Department is the Go (Government of Ontario) Transit rail and bus commuter system. This service has been designed to 6rovide fast and reasonably priced commuting between Toronto and the lakeside and dormitory communities, on a 60-mile front. The system is centred on the Union Station in Toronto. which has direct access to the city's bus and • subway services, and is operated by Canadian National Railways--on their own track—under contract to the Ontario Government, The latter specifies the level of fares, frequency of services etc., pays the costs and receives the revenues. The trains serve 15 stations and at most of these free car parking spaces are provided.
Bus services are co-ordinated to keep travel and waiting time to a minimum and an experimental dial-a-bus system has just recently been introduced. The latter permits commuters to make reservations on 14-seater minibuses—some driven by women—on a weekly or daily basis up to one hour before train time and provides a door to door service from their homes to the local station. The cost is 25 cents per trip and. although it has been restricted to one area during the experimental period, its effects have already been seen in increased passenger volumes.
We saw much. much more during our tour—both of transport and industrial facilities and of the great range of social amenities, but there is no space to detail them here. The hospitality everywhere was overwhelming, and the Institute's dosing dinner in Toronto could not include all our many hosts on the tour. But I would like to take this opportunity of acknowledging the work done by the MT secretary Mr A. G. Griffiths and his very able lieutenant, Mr C. A. Lawrence of BOAC. in planning and executing an operation that ran as smoothly as a transport-sponsored exercise should.