Increased use of waterways will provide additional freight transportation capacity along the congested I-95 corridor to supplement trucks in moving cargo to and from the Port of New York and New Jersey

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) today announced the creation of the North Atlantic Marine Highway Alliance, which will seek to foster the use of barge services to offset the use of trucks and supplement rail cargo to and from the Port of New York and New Jersey.

Recognizing the untapped potential and excess capacity of the coastal waterways, the Alliance will serve in an advisory capacity on research, analysis, and relationship building to support the realization of a financially viable, regional barge network. The Alliance will be composed of public agencies, port authorities, marine terminal operators, and service providers, and will provide a forum for stakeholders to work collaboratively to develop and expand regional barge services among two or more North Atlantic ports, ranging from Maryland to Maine. The Alliance will function in a similar fashion to the Port Performance Task Force, created in 2013 to have all port stakeholders develop and implement solutions to issues that confront the entire port community.

Development of the North Atlantic Marine Highway Alliance complements Freight NYC, a $100 million plan released by NYCEDC earlier this year. The plan aims to reduce dependency on trucking for distribution and increase use of rail freight and marine barging to move freight in and around the City of New York. Freight volumes are forecast to increase nearly 70 percent by 2025.

Read more on the Port Authority website.