Research

The Cross Border Transportation Centre and its affiliated faculty are currently conducting research in the following areas:

• A new report by Bill Anderson.  The Border and the Ontario Economy.
• Analysis of cross-border freight crossing times: GPS-based data developed by Transport Canada is used to illustrate that while average border crossing times have declined, uncertainty about crossing times still imposes a significant cost on shippers and carriers.
• The regional economic impact of border infrastructure improvements. With support from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, the Cross-Border Transportation Centre is conducting a long-term, life-cycle analysis of the local and regional economic impacts of the Windsor-Essex Parkway. (The Windsor-Essex Parkway will connect Ontario Highway 401 to the site of the planned second crossing of the Detroit River. Construction on the Parkway is expected to begin in August of 2011.)
• Risk assessment for transportation and other infrastructure. The Cross-Border Transportation Centre has been working with CRTI to develop estimates of the economic losses due to interruption of infrastructure resulting from extreme events ranging from severe weather to terrorists attacks. (CRTI is an agency of the Government of Canada that engages the scientific and security communities on potential chemical, biological, radiological-nuclear, and explosive threats to public security.)