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Transportation in Canada

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Transportation is the movement of people and goods from one place to another. The term is derived from the Latin trans ("across") and portare ("to carry"). Transportation within Canada can be by rail, road, water, piped, or air. Transport Canada oversees and regulates most aspects of transportation within Canadian jurisdiction. Transport Canada is under the direction of the federal government's Minister of Transport. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is responsible for maintaining transportation safety in Canada by investigating accidents and making safety recommendations.

History

European contact

Early European settlers and explorers in Canada introduced the wheel to North America's Aboriginal peoples, who relied on canoes, kayaks, umiaks and bull boats, in addition to the snowshoe, toboggan and sled in winter. Europeans adopted these technologies as they pushed deeper into the continent's interior, and were thus able to travel via the waterways that fed and derived from the St. Lawrence River and Hudson Bay.[1]

Regulations enacted

Rail

Canada currently supports a well developed railway system from coast to coast. Several cities are also served by light rail or metro systems. Smaller railways such as Ontario Northland and Algoma Central also run passenger trains to remote rural areas.

See also: Category:Rail transport in Canada
  • total: 72,168 km of all combined major freight railway systems[2]
See also: Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway, and VIA Rail

Cities with commuter train systems

Cities with subway/metro or light rail systems

Main article: Rapid transit in Canada
The Rainbow Bridge viewed from the Skylon Tower, Niagara Falls

Highways

The Ministry of Transportation maintains the road network in Ontario and also employs Ministry of Transport Enforcement Officers for the purpose of administering the Canada Transportation Act and related regulations.[5][6] The Department of Transportation in New Brunswick performs a similar task in that province as well.

See also: Roads in Canada and Numbered highways in Canada
  • total: 1,042,300 km [7]
    Highway 6 near Wiarton, Ontario.
  • paved: 415,600 km (includes 17,000 km of expressways)[8]
  • unpaved: 626,700 km (2006)[9]

Waterways

Transport Canada is currently mandated to oversee most of the regulatory functions related to marine registration[10], Large Vessel Safety[11], and port pilotage duties.[12] Many of Canada's Port facilities are in the process of being divested from a federal responsibility to other agencies or municipalities.[13]

See also: Category:Water transport in Canada

Inland waterways: 3,000 km, including the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

Ferry services

The Spirit of Ontario 1, part of The Breeze fast ferry service.
See also: Category:Ferries of Canada
  • Passenger ferry service
Vancouver Island to the mainland
several Sunshine Coast communities to the mainland and to Alaska.
Nova Scotia to Newfoundland and Labrador,
Quebec to Labrador
Labrador and the island of Newfoundland.
British Columbia to Alaska or Washington state.

Canals

Welland Canal, Port Weller, Lock #1
See also: Category:Canals in Canada

Ports and harbours

See also: Category:Port cities in Canada

Merchant marine

  • total: 173 ships (1000 GRT or over) 2,129,243 GRT or 716,340 DWT [14]
note: does not include ships used exclusively in the Great Lakes (1998 est.) [citation needed]

Pipelines

The TransCanada pipeline route

Pipelines are part of the energy extraction and transportation network of Canada and, in this regard, may carry natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil, synthetic crude or other petroleum based products.

See also: Category:Natural gas pipelines in Canada, Lakehead Pipeline, and TransCanada pipeline
  • Crude and refined oil: 23,564 km
  • Natural gas: 74,980 km

Airports

An Airbus A330-300 of the national carrier Air Canada

The Canadian Transportation Agency employs transportation enforcement officers to maintain aircraft safety standards, and conduct periodic aircraft inspections, of all air carriers.[15] The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority is charged with the responsibility for the security of air traffic within Canada

All figures as of January 2007

Further information: [[:Category:Airports in Canada]]
  • Total airports - 1444
  • Land aerodromes - 1117
  • Water aerodromes - 327
Iqaluit airport, Nunavut

Principal airports

Further information: [[:National Airports System, Canada's busiest airport]]

Heliports

Heliport at Niagara Falls, Ontario
Further information: [[:List of heliports in Canada]]
  • Total heliports - 296

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Transport in Canada.

References

  1. ^ Virtual Vault, an online exhibition of Canadian historical art at Library and Archives Canada
  2. ^ "Rail transportation, length of track operated for freight and passenger transportation, by province and territory". statcan.ca. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2007-09-06. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ AlaskaCanadaRail.org
  4. ^ Bering Strait bridge
  5. ^ "Regional Enforcement Officers". Canadian Transportation Agency. Retrieved 2007-10-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Enforcement blitz improves road safety". Canada NewsWire. Retrieved 2007-10-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "CIA - The World Factbookl". The World Factbookl. CIA. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  8. ^ "CIA - The World Factbookl". The World Factbookl. CIA. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  9. ^ "CIA - The World Factbookl". The World Factbookl. CIA. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  10. ^ "Small Vessel Monitoring & Inspection Program". Transport Canada. Retrieved 2007-10-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Port State Control". Transport Canada. Retrieved 2007-10-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "Marine Personnel Standards and Pilotage". Transport Canada. Retrieved 2007-10-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "Airport and Port Programs". Transport Canada. Retrieved 2007-10-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "CIA - The World Factbookl". The World Factbookl. CIA. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  15. ^ "Enforcement". Canadian Transportation Agency. Retrieved 2007-10-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

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