Increased delivery truck traffic is creating additional congestion on New York City streets and has local government officials searching for a solution.
City Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said at-home delivery services provided by companies like Amazon and FreshDirect are adding to already heavy city traffic where 90 percent of the goods are brought in by trucks.
“Trucks are a huge challenge in the city,” Trottenberg said at a recent City Council hearing.
A growing number of home delivery trucks, largely owed to increased online shopping, have angered some residents who contend that the trucks are too large for the city’s back streets and are creating contentious traffic jams where tempers flare and horns disrupt what were once more peaceful neighborhoods.
Others are hoping that the city can come up with a solution that will not disrupt those convenient home deliveries.
In an effort to address residents’ concerns, a bill has been introduced in the city council to study truck deliveries south of 59th St. in Manhattan and in downtown Brooklyn, according to the New York Daily News.
City Councilman Mark Levine, who introduced the bill, says that while there has been an increase in home delivery trucks, it’s the commercial trucks making pick-ups and drop-offs at stores, he believes, that are largely to blame for truck-based traffic problems.
Levine said he’d like to see trucks making fewer rush-hour deliveries in the morning and evening and instead hit the streets when they’re less crowded, such as in the middle of the day.
In response to the criticism, FreshDirect said it has scaled back on its home deliveries and has placed more hybrid trucks on the road in an effort to meet the city’s Vision Zero emissions reductions goals. For its efforts, FreshDirect garnered a Breathe Easy Leadership Award from the EPA in 2015.
Amazon did not respond to interview requests from the New York Daily News or Hard Working Trucks.
