New York & New Jersey

This decreased activity is expected to continue during 2009 as the full effect of the economic downturn is realised, says the port authority.

However, in the long-term it continues to project cargo growth and is making investments in ExpressRail and other infrastructure to support this.

“Despite the challenging economic environment, the port authority’s port facilities continue to outperform other major ports in North America, with container volume at the top ten ports in North America declining by an average of 5% in 2008,” says a port authority spokesman.

In announcing the statistics, the port authority said its $246m of investment this year would help support more than 230,000 port jobs.

“After many years of rising container volumes, our port isn’t accustomed to flat growth,” says port authority chairman Anthony Coscia. “Still, we’re pleased that we outperformed other major US ports and we’ll continue to invest heavily in our port – as a driver of job creation and economic recovery in the short-term, and to support our region’s long-term prosperity.”

New York/New Jersey is the largest port complex on the US East Coast – the port authority oversees the operation of seven cargo terminals. It is predicting a doubling in cargo throughput at New York/New Jersey over the next decade – and in massive investment is under way in reconfiguring existing terminals, deepening the harbour’s channels and berths, and improving inland access by rail and barge.

More than $1.4m has been invested in recent projects, including a major expansion of the port’s ExpressRail system for rail freight, and $2bn more is due to be invested in increasing capacity over the next ten years – an example being the doubling of throughput capacity at APM Terminals to more than 1.5m teu.

The proliferation of deepsea services direct from Asia to New York/New Jersey is expected to continue growing with the completion of the port’s 50-foot channel deepening programme and the Panama Canal expansion, says the port authority, and rail will become ever more important.

However, the vast majority of cargo still moves to and from terminals by truck, and there are major investments going ahead in road improvements.

“The port authority is working closely with the private sector and with state authorities to ensure that sufficient road and rail capacity is in place to handle cargo volumes that are anticipated to double by 2020,” says Rudy Israel, general manager for waterways and facilities redevelopment.