January 2, 2025
What’s Next: Designing the Future of the Industrial Market
New York City has an opportunity. Right now, there are challenges with truck traffic, but KSS thinks there is a solution by turning to the waterways to alleviate congestion.
Of the 365 million tons of freight that moves through the New York City area annually, about 88% of it gets moved by truck. This intensity of usage leads to negative impacts, including health and climate issues related to vehicle emissions, congestion, safety risks, road maintenance, and noise.
The age of e-commerce has only exacerbated the issue. According to a 2022 report by the Manhattan Borough President, 2.4 million packages are delivered to residents and businesses each day throughout New York City’s five boroughs. The greatest density of package delivery is south of 60th Street in Manhattan, where 34,700 packages per square mile are delivered every weekday.
Given our ongoing industrial work in NYC, KSS has long been interested in leveraging multi-modal distribution, including the waterways.
We’ve investigated applicability of blue highways to support NYC industrial development – researching the benefits, challenges, and opportunities to help solve large-scale logistical problems and contribute to an improvement in residents’ lives by reducing the number of delivery trucks on the roads.
Andrew Sniderman, Senior Associate, KSS Architects
By activating waterways, a multi-modal freight network can be created which could reduce emissions, ease congestion, and limit the conflict between trucks and people. KSS’s analysis of lower Manhattan shows that the entire southern portion of the city can be accessed for delivery with a combination of existing waterborne terminals and neighborhood delivery by e-cargo bikes with a range of 1.5 miles.
The above diagram shows KSS’s internal research on how using existing marine infrastructure can effectively support the island of Manhattan through the Blue Highway.
To find an alternative to help alleviate this congestion, New York City is also exploring turning to the waterways with the Blue Highway Initiative.
"By harnessing our waterways for freight transportation, we can foster enhanced efficiency, reduced congestion, and a greener city. The Blue Highways initiative presents a viable last-mile delivery strategy to overcome market and infrastructure barriers and better leverage New York City's global waterfront" said "New" New York Panel Co-Chair Dan Doctoroff (nyc.gov).
Building on New York’s initiative, KSS further researched the potential of strategically located waterborne terminals throughout all boroughs, putting millions of people in proximity to the Blue Highway and offering an attractive alternative distribution system.
The above diagram demonstrates our expanded research with an exploration into Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens, illustrating how the Blue Highway network can be beneficial across all boroughs.
Previously, KSS explored the advantages and opportunities of a distribution center on the waterfront and how it can utilize its strategic location to support the full lifecycle of goods from design to distribution more sustainably. This study was discussed in greater detail in the Integrated Development Study.
Stayed tuned for more in the series on how we connect the Blue Highway infrastructure to land-based logistical infrastructure to create a holistic network that supports the city in a more sustainable way. Let’s build a greener NYC!
This post is part of an ongoing series that explores the future of the industrial sphere.
