Truckers blast Councillor's second attempt at T.O. truck ban
TORONTO -- Toronto Councillor Michael Walker might have been thinking of former major league baseball catcher and quote machine Yogi Berra when he renewed calls recently to ban all trucks from hogtown's downtown core during rush hours. It's deja vu all over again at City Hall as Walker is once more asking city council's executive committee to study his plan to restrict delivery trucks from downtown from 7 to 10 a.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. And just as when the controversial idea was first floated (and subsequently scrapped) two years ago, trucking, shipping and retail groups have responded by calling the plan "absurd," "ill-conceived," and "impractical." Ontario Trucking Association President David Bradley said as much this time around when he described the plan as being "designed solely to garner headlines and votes for Michael Walker as opposed to doing anything to resolve gridlock." Bradley reiterated that trucks are not the chief cause of congestion. Furthermore, he rightly pointed out once again that trucking carriers already prefer operating during off-peak times as much as possible, but "that it is not our call but that of our customers as to when deliveries need to be made." However, it’s impossible or impractical for many businesses to receive goods in the middle of the night, Bradley says. Speaking to the Toronto Star recently, Walker claimed delivery vehicles were responsible for much of the gridlock and idling in Toronto, contributing significantly to smog and to global warming. Walker, whose motion is being seconded by Councillor Michael Thompson, wants a six-month trial study in the area bounded by Jarvis St., Lake Ontario, Bloor St. and Spadina Ave -- arguably the busiest grid perimeter in Toronto. "Walker’s plan is currently not under active consideration by the city. His latest outburst was an attempt to re-ignite the debate that he lost two years ago," says Bradley. "Despite the fact that Toronto has already driven a lot of business out of the downtown core to the surrounding GTA, Councillor Walker continues to persist in advocating his ill-conceived plan that would only make it more difficult and expensive for downtown businesses to get the goods they require, driving even more of them to leave the city and seek more business friendly jurisdictions. We can only hope that cooler heads on council will continue to understand this point."