As published in Queens Daily Eagle on 5/14/2025 – see online here. 

With an increasing number of delivery trucks choking New York City’s streets, we are reaching untenable and unsafe levels of congestion, air quality, and vehicle, pedestrian and bike traffic. While the City fights to defend a successful lower-Manhattan congestion pricing program currently under attack from federal officials, it must also develop a comprehensive approach to reducing truck traffic throughout the boroughs.

Close to 90% of New York City’s goods are currently moved into and around our streets via truck. By 2045, trucking of goods will be increased by 68%. The City has been trying to figure out how to use the waterways between boroughs to deliver more freight and goods by water.  This is being considered through what is called the Blue Highways program led by NYC Economic Development Corporation and NYC Department of Transportation.

Now is the time to get this project off the ground and get the details right. By properly planning for and investing in the initial pilot phase, we see potential for this program to address NYC’s traffic, safety, and air quality problems in multiple communities.

The Blue Highways program will connect the Brooklyn Marine Terminal with Hunts Point using a dedicated waterborne freight route via the East River and Harlem River.  At each terminal, goods will be unloaded and transferred to sustainable last-mile delivery methods, such as cargo bikes or low-emission vehicles. It is a little-known fact that the waterways that surround all five boroughs can handle large volumes of goods in a single trip, trips that would otherwise require multiple road-bound deliveries by diesel-powered trucks. Freight moved via Blue Highways will cut down on air pollutants, truck traffic and unsafe conditions for many New Yorkers. Blue highways can move dozens of shipping containers and semi-trailers on barges at a time, being brought into the city closer to their final destination.

It’s also good for the economy.  Interborough delivery by water increases economic stability and supply chain resilience by serving as a backup during potential disruptions, such as a global pandemic, climate disaster, and extreme weather.

Blue Highways offer great promise for the New York City’s congested and unsafe streets, especially amid threats to congestion pricing and a paucity of strong local leadership. The City must accomplish the following to bring Blue Highways to New York City and make it successful:

• The City must elevate the Blue Highways initiative by leveraging city and state investments. Early investments in the pilot program are essential to lay the groundwork before federal funding becomes available.
• The Maritime Administration (MARAD), an agency within USDOT, must urgently increase funding for the Blue Highways beyond the initial $5.16 million grant, while making good on their initial commitment. In a time when federal investments are increasingly uncertain and unreliable, the City must work hard to ensure they are working directly with MARAD to bring in those funds.
• The City must urgently track the economic benefits, greenhouse gas emissions savings, and reduced truck miles from the Blue Highways program. This data will help secure ongoing investments across administrations. As the program proves its worth, the City can also focus on creating new jobs in green logistics and maritime sectors.
• To ensure consistent safety of waterfront infrastructure, the City needs more transparency about investing in wider, protected bike lanes, enhancing safety measures and planning cargo hub placements carefully to minimize disruptions. Microhubs, which support the transfer of packages to cargo bikes, can be located on- or off-street. While planning for last-mile delivery, new designs must ensure the safety of existing bike lanes and greenways with adequate space to accommodate all users.  Cargo bikes, for example, which are essential for last-mile delivery, need to be managed well to protect the investment and progress we’ve made in the City’s greenways so far, particularly in the increase of pedestrians, runners, and cyclists

The Blue Highways program is a transformative opportunity for NYC to create a sustainable and efficient freight system in NYC, that has the potential to be replicated city-wide. We urge the City to actively move this initiative forward, and ensure that New York City remains a global model for urban development.