Transportation in Canada
Canada's transportation system includes more than 1,400,000 kilometres (870,000 mi) of roads, 10 major international airports, 300 smaller airports, 72,093 km (44,797 mi) of functioning railway track, and more than 300 commercial ports and harbours that provide access to the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans as well as the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway.
The standard history covers the French regime, fur traders, the canals, and early roads, and gives extensive attention to the railways.
They also used canoes, kayaks, umiaks and Bull Boats, in addition to the snowshoe, toboggan and sled in winter.
Europeans adopted canoes as they pushed deeper into the continent's interior, and were thus able to travel via the waterways that fed from the St. Lawrence River and Hudson Bay.
The advent of steam railways and steamships connected resources and markets of vast distances in the late 19th century.
People generally lived within 5 mi (8 km) of the downtown core thus the train could be used for inter-city travel and the tram for commuting.
The advent of controlled-access highways in Canada established ribbon development, truck stops, and industrial corridors along throughways.
Different parts of the country are shut off from each other by Cabot Strait, the Strait of Belle Isle, by areas of rough, rocky forest terrain, such as the region lying between New Brunswick and Quebec, the areas north of Lakes Huron and Superior, dividing the industrial region of Ontario and Quebec from the agricultural areas of the prairies, and the barriers interposed by the mountains of British ColumbiaThe Federal Department of Transport (established November 2, 1936) supervised railways, canals, harbours, marine and shipping, civil aviation, radio and meteorology.
The safety of Canada's roads is moderately good by international standards, and is improving both in terms of accidents per head of population and per billion vehicle kilometers.
[17] Canada's airline industry saw significant change following the signing of the US-Canada open skies agreement in 1995, when the marketplace became less regulated and more competitive.
[18] According to a 2016 report, Canada's air transportation was the most expensive for consumers globally;[19] however, this was prior to the emergence of ultra-low-cost carriers such as Flair Airlines.
[25] The Government of Canada, with the exception of the three territorial capitals, retains ownership of these airports and leases them to local authorities.
The next tier consists of 64 regional/local airports formerly owned by the federal government, most of which have now been transferred to other owners (most often to municipalities).
VIA Rail has faced criticism for frequent delays, and low speeds compared to peer countries and historical train travel times, such as the records set by the TurboTrain during the 1970s.
Smaller railways such as Ontario Northland, Rocky Mountaineer, and Algoma Central also run passenger trains to remote rural areas.
[40] Transport Canada oversees most of the regulatory functions related to marine registration,[41] safety of large vessel,[42] and port pilotage duties.
The National Harbours Board administered Halifax, Saint John, Chicoutimi, Trois-Rivières, Churchill, and Vancouver until 1983.
This compares to 79.5% that got to work using a car (67.4% driving alone, 12.1% as part of a carpool), 5.5% that walked and 1.4% that rode a bike.
Organizations in Ontario (38.8%) and Quebec (21.9%) accounted for just over three-fifths of the country's total bus fleet.
[2] There are three rapid transit systems operating in Canada: the Montreal Metro, the Toronto subway, and the Vancouver SkyTrain.
[3] Commuter trains serve the cities and surrounding areas of Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver:
