Data catalogues are compilations of essential information for any business or industry. The catalogues centralize urban-freight data in a single place so that information from different sources can be accessed in one location. Datasets in this catalogue can be used by cities and researchers who need spatial information to support curbside planning; who want to identify locations of current and potentially future clean-transportation infrastructure; or who want to produce insights into how urban-freight impacts congestion hotspots or other areas of interest.
Below are the datasets that inform this Hub, especially the maps.
Baseline demographic and transit data
Statistics Canada Census
The Canadian Census Program gathers information about Canada’s demographic makeup every five years. It stores a wide range of analysis, data, reference material, and geographical information about Canada and its population across 489,905 dissemination blocks (small geographical areas). The Census collects statistics on education levels, income, household size, age, and ethnic diversity. The demographic data is used by researchers to estimate freight trip requirements. The Urban Freight Data Library uses the 2016 Census results to generate the employment and population data base layers. It is also used to identify areas with a residential land use designation.
Transit
The transit base layer contains the locations of existing transit stations and lines and, where available, the locations of proposed transit lines. It shows areas that are likely to have a high flow of foot traffic and could be central hubs of last-mile goods movement, or locations for onboarding freight on public transit.
Courier data
Courier locations in cities are identified as nodes of freight origin or destination activity. They identify inbound and outbound shipping locations, missed delivery pickup locations, and parcel locker locations when available.
Time to find parking data
Geotab used GPS trackers onboard commercial vehicles to identify areas in cities where drivers have trouble finding parking. Addressing long cruising times would reduce air pollutant emissions and congestion in affected areas. The Searching for Parking dataset is aggregated over the previous six months and is updated monthly. The dataset on the dashboard shows data from October 2020 to March 2021.
Geographic data
OpenStreetMap is a database of geographic datasets collected by individuals and companies from free sources for use in geographic applications. Crowdsourced data from over two million users is made available for use through the Open Database License which allows users to freely share, modify, and use the data.
OpenStreetMap can help fill information gaps where data is not available for free, or available at all. In the Urban Freight Data Library OpenStreetMap data was used to supplement the following datasets:
- Non-residential land-use: industrial, commercial and retail, other land uses (e.g., institutional) and green space
- Bike lanes, routes, paths
- Parking lot locations
Other datasets
- City of Edmonton on-road and off-road bike routes
- Bike Share Toronto
- MOBI Bike Share Vancouver
- Toronto Green P municipal off-street parking lots
- Toronto Parks, Forestry, and Recreation parking lots
- Parkade and Surface Lots Owned and Operated by The City of Edmonton
- Electric Charging and Alternative Fuelling Stations Locator
The Urban Freight Data Hub is funded by the RBC Foundation.