Metro Vancouver: Global Freight Hub?

Cargo Movement in B.C. | BCBusiness
Sources: Chamber of Shipping of B.C., Metro Vancouver, NAIOP Vancouver, Port metro Vancouver, Shift urban Cargo Delivery, Southern Railway of B.C., Statistics Canada, YVR

Vancouver’s port is booming, but can the region’s infrastructure keep up?

To drivers in the Lower Mainland, it seems as though highway construction is a way of life. Graders and flag people have been a fixture on highways to and from the border and the ferry terminal for years, and two new bridges have opened across the Fraser in the past five years. There’s no relief in sight, either, with expansions of Tsawwassen and North Vancouver shipping terminals on the books, and replacement of the Massey Tunnel slated to start in 2017.

But it’s all worth it, the Ministry of Transportation assures us: these are all essential building blocks for a world-class transportation gateway.

So what exactly is in all those tankers, containers and bulk freighters? Here’s a snapshot.