Maximizing Freight Data for Better Logistics

The SFC Freight Data Warehouse (FDW), founded in 2021, addresses the long-standing need to make private freight data available for evidence-based research that improves goods movement in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. It consolidates, manages, and distributes freight data in a secure environment to enable freight analytics, modeling, monitoring, and research, and to ensure the confidentiality and security requirements of freight data providers.

Freight Data Warehouse

The Smart Freight Centre (SFC) Freight Data Warehouse (FDW), founded in 2021, addresses the long-standing need to make private freight data available for evidence-based research that improves goods movement in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. It consolidates, manages, and distributes freight data in a secure environment to enable freight analytics, modeling, monitoring and research, and to ensure the confidentiality and security requirements of freight data providers.

Objectives

  • Host freight data securely
  • Facilitate data access for approved entities (as per the Data Sharing Policy)
  • Provide basic data visualizing and analytics services

Requesting Access to Freight Data Warehouse

The FDW web portal provides the essential tools for SFC-affiliated researchers to create, submit, and manage their data download requests to the FDW. Currently, SFC-affiliated researchers can submit requests for HERE data by link ids or GPS data provided by ATRI and SHAW.

SFC-affiliated researchers may request FDW access by emailing: fdw@smartfreightcentre.ca.

Data Sources

  • HERE Inc – Travel speeds by time of day by road segment
  • ATRI – GPS traces of commercial vehicles
  • SHAW/Omnitracs – GPS traces of commercial vehicles
  • Commercial Travel Survey data (shipper-based survey conducted by Metrolinx and University of Toronto)
  •  Others to be announced

Data Classification

Classification Description
Public Data Data that may be broadly distributed without causing damage to the data owners, SFC, or other stakeholders.
Internal Data Data available to SFC researchers. Requires moderate aggregation or anonymization.
Restricted Data Raw data that are highly confidential and may not be disclosed outside of a secure environment. Only accessible via secure queries moderated by the Freight Data Warehouse steward.

Handling Areas

Areas Description
Hosting Area Restricted data. The hosting area is a secure data storage area, in which restricted (raw) data are stored. The hosting area is on the U of T private cloud and is only accessible via approved queries consistent with the data policy.
Staging Area Anonymized data for research. Resembles the restricted data, with modifications to preserve confidentiality.  Allows SFC Researchers to understand the structure of the data, and to develop queries, which can then be used on the restricted data.
Web Portal Online querying system. Allows data users to make data access requests and to view data that are approved for public viewing.