NYC Tests ‘Blue Highways’ Freight Pilot Between Pier 79 and Brooklyn Marine Terminal

By Y.M. Lowy

New York City is turning to its rivers and harbors to move goods more efficiently. NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez and DutchX have officially launched a pilot program that is now operating, running freight between Manhattan’s Pier 79 and the Brooklyn Marine Terminal as part of the city’s Blue Highways initiative.

The goal was to get trucks off crowded streets and speed up deliveries. The pilot route will run from Red Hook’s Atlantic Basin to Pier 79, with DutchX transporting 300–400 parcels per day onto electric cargo bikes for the last leg of delivery. The city plans to track the program’s success, including how much congestion is reduced, as it looks to expand the model to other piers.

“Waterways are the new highways in New York City,” Rodriguez said. “Moving goods by water and finishing deliveries with cargo bikes benefits everyone—our streets, our air, and our neighborhoods.”

With nearly 90 percent of New York’s goods still moving by truck, the Blue Highways program offers a glimpse of a cleaner, faster, and smarter way to get things around the city.