Editorial: Rush hour truck ban needed
We've all experienced it. The agony of sitting in gridlock traffic, either on the way in to work or leaving it, trapped behind a wall of vehicles that are barely moving.
That image doesn't really change regardless of where one lives, but in Delta we're faced with an inordinate number of trucks on Highways 17 and 99 because of the Deltaport Terminal.
Which is why at peak travel times that interchange is one of the busiest traffic corridors in the entire country.
A major frustration cited by business owners in Tilbury Industrial Park are the hundreds of slow-moving trucks clogging up River Road in the morning and afternoon commute.
Now, certainly some of those trucks belong to local businesses. But trying to make deliveries during peak traffic hours just doesn't make any sense for anybody.
Truckers are on the clock when they're driving, which means that although sitting in gridlock is frustrating, it's a workplace frustration.
The rest of us are on our own time, which makes transport trucks in the Massey Tunnel a needless competitor for road space.
One way of fixing this problem might be to follow the suggestion recently made by Coun. Ian Paton, and put a ban on transport trucks making deliveries or driving on major roads during rush hour.
The question is, would such a ban work?
Well, the country of Israel, with its limited real estate and large population, decided to ban trucks during morning rush hour in 2010. The result? Travel times from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem were reduced by an average of 58 per cent.
And a little closer to home, Los Angeles has had a heavy truck ban on city streets for more than two decades.
But other than stuffing the political suggestion box, very little action has been taken in other jurisdictions to remove heavy trucks from the road during the commute, probably because the move would cause outrage from truckers, their unions, and associations.
Clearly, we need commerce, and moving goods from Point A to Point B is integral. But something has to be done beyond simply building another highway.
When the Deltaport Terminal 2 expansion happens, things are likely only going to get worse.
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