Intermodal freight terminals: locality and industrial linkages

The areas around eight Canadian intermodal freight terminals form the focus of this study. Two basic research questions are addressed. What is the character of the zones adjacent to the terminals and what is the functional tie between industries located in these zones and the terminals themselves? There are three seaports (Halifax, Montreal and Vancouver), three airports (Dorval- Montreal, Pearson-Toronto and Vancouver) and two rail yards (both in the Toronto region) in the study. In total, 196 manufacturing and wholesaling firms were part of the study. Transportation land use is areally most extensive in six of the eight terminal zones. Industrial land use, while significant in area, is not the most dominant land use surrounding any of the terminals. No one socioeconomic characteristic defines the areas around the terminals. Businesses in close proximity to the terminals make rather modest use of the terminals. Less the 30 percent of the interviewed firms used the nearby terminal for their freight shipments; only 3 percent of the firms indicated that proximity to the terminal was a primary locational consideration. The relationship between industrial location and the terminals is more indirect, than direct, based on the high level of accessibility found in the terminal zones.