Blue Highways

The Blue Highways program activates the city’s waterways for local and regional movement of goods—improving quality of life for New Yorkers by reducing congestion on our roadways, adding resiliency to the city’s supply chain, and tapping into our roots as a port city.

The goal of Blue Highways is to move goods that arrive at New York and other East Coast ports into and out of the city by water, utilizing New York City’s 520 miles of waterways. Currently, once arriving at a port, most goods are moved by truck, leading to increased congestion, pollution, and roadway damage.

Milestone

67%

projected increase in freight volume by 2045

As freight volumes are projected to increase another 67 percent in New York City through 2045, finding new ways to address these challenges is essential. The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) jointly lead the initiative. Learn more about Blue Highways through the DOT.

Three smiling men wearing life vests and standing together in front of a large ship on the water.

Blue Highways is New York City’s vision for moving freight by water, reducing congestion while creating well-paying maritime jobs and strengthening local supply chains. Learn how New York City is becoming the hub of a cleaner, more efficient transportation network.

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Video Transcript

00:01 [Music.] [Del Bobish / Chief Operating Officer / Red Hook Terminals.] The key to the Blue Highway is getting the cargo to its final destination as quick and as efficient as possible.

00:06 [Chris Canary / Vice President, Ports, Waterfront & Transportation / NYCEDC.] [Music.] We already have a portion of the Blue Highway operating. Blue Highways is New York City's brand for short-sea shipping, and what existed before we even had the term was this barge operation. They move back and forth between the Brooklyn Marine Terminal here in Brooklyn and New Jersey.

00:23 [Brandon Twomey / Mate, “Doris Moran” / Moran.] [Music.] The container barges we move hold roughly 150 containers and moving them takes us approximately 2 hours from Red Hook to Newark. And that's a lot of lot of trucks off the road, and definitely a shorter transit for that cargo.

00:38 [Chris Canary.] [Music.] Brooklyn Marine Terminal is going to be a crucial node in our Blue Highways ecosystem. Bringing vessels in from Latin America and Central America, bringing food into New York City, and then moving those containers of food onto barges, bringing them up the East River to Hunts Point, potentially points further along the East Coast, and simplifying and adding redundancy to our food distribution supply chain.

01:03 [Del Bobish.] [Music.] The future for Brooklyn Marine Terminal is to be the hub of the Blue Highway.

01:08 [Chris Canary.] [Music.] The waterfront isn't just infrastructure. There's people behind that infrastructure and these are lifelong jobs, sustainable jobs, and good paying jobs. We have training programs that exist today connecting folks in local communities to jobs on the waterfront.

01:23 [Del Bobish.] [Music.] It takes a lot of different people and a lot of trades to make this operation work on a regular basis. You need mechanics, you need engineers, you need welders, you need carpenters, you need IT professionals, you need security professionals. Every piece of equipment that we have down here that creates jobs. 95% of our employees are all union employees that have pensions, benefits, a good paying job so they can support their families.

01:50 [Chris Canary.] [Music.] So our investments in the Brooklyn Marine Terminal can create a positive ripple effect in the community.

01:55 [Del Bobish.] [Music.] The ultimate goal is to have all of our equipment electrified.

01:58 [Chris Canary.] [Music.] Our vision is an electric tug and an electric barge moving goods from the Brooklyn Marine Terminal to Hunts Point. Blue Highways matters because we want to improve quality of life in New York City. We want to create maritime jobs and we want this to be a thriving city with less congestion, less roadway wear and tear, and more opportunities for the people who reside within New York. [Music.]

02:24 [Music.] [Logo of Brooklyn Marine Terminal followed by NYCEDC logo.]

Moving Goods, from Micro to Bulk

Blue Highways is New York City’s brand for what the industry calls short sea shipping. Blue Highways freight falls into three categories: microfreight, containerized freight, and bulk freight. Microfreight includes the movement of parcels and food via containers that attach to e-cargo bikes, containerized freight is the movement of freight via 40-foot shipping containers, and bulk freight comprises a broad category that includes aggregate (also known as building materials), Department of Sanitation (DSNY) municipal bulk (including solid waste, organic waste, as well as salt and dirt required for DSNY’s winter snow operations), liquid and dry bulk such as oil, and project cargo for construction projects. Microfreight and bulk freight require different loading/unloading facilities, but each helps reduce roadway usage.

Microfreight-based goods can be transported via ferry or catamaran-style vessel in small container pallets, with those containers then attached to cargo bikes for last mile delivery to homes and businesses. Cargo bikes improve speed of freight delivery in dense neighborhoods that trucks and vans have trouble negotiating.

Containerized and bulk freight are typically transported by barge, with goods either driven onto the barge via a ramp (known as Roll on/Roll off, or RORO) or lifted onto the barge via crane (Lift on/Lift off, or LOLO).

Projects in Development

Aerial rendering of downtown Manhattan heliport with a flying air taxi above water, surrounded by New York City skyscrapers and a ferry at the dock.

Downtown Skyport

Formerly called the Downtown Manhattan Heliport, the Downtown Skyport is being transformed from a heliport into a multi-modal hub for sustainable transportation and last-mile freight delivery. NYCEDC is upgrading the City-owned site’s infrastructure for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, a quieter alternative to helicopters; and building out maritime freight berthing infrastructure to make New York City’s Blue Highways a reality. Learn more.

Rendering of the proposed Hunts Point Marine Terminal. An aerial view of an industrial waterfront facility with warehouses, shipping containers, parked vehicles, a pier, and a boat on blue water, surrounded by urban buildings and roads. Rendering courtesy of the City of New York.

Hunts Point Terminals

NYCEDC has announced two marine terminal projects at Hunts Point in the Bronx: a Hunts Point Marine Terminal for the importation of containerized freight, and a waterside transloading facility for aggregate and microfreight. Together, these two projects will allow goods to be moved into and out of the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center via water.

The waterside transloading facility is a partnership between NYCEDC, the Fulton Fish Market, and Con Agg Global adjacent to the Fulton Fish Market hub in the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center. The initial facility is expected to remove approximately 1,000 truck trips per month in the South Bronx. A permanent facility will primarily be used for the waterborne movement of wholesale food and beverage and will employ microfreight as well as bulk, both of which help mitigate roadway congestion in and out of the Hunts Point peninsula. Learn more.