Pilot program provides delivery trucks with safe zones

NEW YORK (PIX11) -- According to the New York City Department of Transportation, more than 80 percent of New Yorkers receive a package weekly, and more than 40 percent 4 times a week.  

With that in mind, a new program will go into effect to get those big trucks off the roads and give them a designated location to complete those deliveries in a safe and environmentally friendly way.

The pilot program will begin with 8 companies. Delivery companies will have to apply and pay for an annual permit. The exact cost has not been announced yet.

“No New Yorkers like the big delivery trucks that clog our streets. But more New Yorkers are receiving deliveries. We are making deliveries cleaner and safer,” said DOT Commissioner, Ydanis Rodriguez.

You see them all the time. Delivery truck workers are rushing to bring goods into stores across the city or an online order to your front door.

According to the DOT, New York gets 90% of its freight by truck, which translates to more traffic and worse air.

The new pilot program will launch multiple micro-hub locations across the city, where truck drivers will be able to park and transfer products onto more portable modes of transportation such as e-cargo bikes, smaller electric sprinter vans, and handcarts… to complete their deliveries.

Ahdyd Paniagua said this initiative will help him get fewer parking tickets. He stated he usually parks wherever he finds a spot that he considers to be safe.

“We come to do deliveries from Amazon around the city and sometimes the police traffic gives you a ticket for 115 dollars,” said Paniagua.

The first five locations will be on the Upper West Side and under the Brooklyn Queens Expressway in Clinton Hill and Greenpoint, Brooklyn. They will be ready sometime this Spring. 36 locations in total are expected during the three years of the pilot program.

“Where big trucks present risk for pedestrians, cyclists, and all road users, often double parked and highly polluting,” added Rodriguez.

Operators will be responsible for sweeping the microhub stations at least once per week and maintaining the designated area clean.