Log in | Subscribe | RSS feed

What’s New

A study analyzes the impact of NAFTA cross-border transportation on air pollution

14 March 2001

The North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has released a study on the environmental impacts of cross-border trade and transportation within NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), with a particular focus on air pollution emissions. The study, based on analysis of five corridor segments (Vancouver-Seattle, Winnipeg-Fargo, Toronto-Detroit, San Antonio-Monterrey, and Tucson-Hermosillo), determines current and future commodity flows, freight vehicle traffic volumes, emissions in each of these corridor segments, and the impacts of several mitigation strategies.

The findings of the study can be summarized as follows:

The above conclusions strongly depend on the assumed growth rates for future truck and rail traffic.

According to the conclusions of the study, shifting freight from truck to rail would actually increase emissions. This finding has received a very positive response from the Canadian trucking industry.

Download the study