A demonstration project in Manhattan in New York City transported fresh seafood via freight ferry from the Fulton Fish Market Cooperative at Hunts Point to the South Street Seaport, just below the Brooklyn Bridge. From there, the seafood was placed onto heavy-duty cargo bikes for the final 0.2-mile trip to the Tin Building, a food hall housing eight restaurants and bars of various service levels, as well as a food market.
“The goal of this demonstration was to show that delivering goods — fish in this case — is a viable, fast and reliable alternative to truck delivery,” remarked Lauren Kesner O'Brien, policy and partnerships manager for Empire Clean Cities, a New York City nonprofit dedicated to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and one of the key partners on the demonstration project.
The project, Kesner O'Brien added in an email, “ran smoothly and we hope it will encourage more fish vendors to try out this alternative mode of delivery during the pilot this Spring, when we offer a regular delivery service between Hunts Point and Lower Manhattan.”
The Dec. 17 demonstration project is part of what’s known as the Blue Highways program, which uses the city’s waterways for the local and regional movement of goods. The project transported eight boxes of fresh seafood, using two cargo bikes, said organizers. It follows similar efforts in other cities to explore the use of zero-emission delivery. Transportation officials in Portland, Ore., recently concluded a six-month Zero-Emission Delivery Zone Pilot, which carved out a 17-block area of downtown for testing the use of electric cargo bikes, e-trucks, curb management technology and other digital assets.
These kinds of projects open the door to more collaborative opportunities with private-sector partners, as well as other city departments to come up with innovative transportation solutions, said Art Pearce, Portland Bureau of Transportation planning, programs and projects deputy director, speaking on a panel at the CoMotion LA conference in November. These collaborations lead to data-sharing opportunities, which can lead to improved management of the curb space and travel lanes, he added.
“In the end, many of our mobility challenges are around the challenging choice about how to allocate roadway space. Either in the traveling lanes, or at the curb space,” said Pearce.
Back in New York, organizers planning the next pilot project hope to further develop the business model and logistics, said Kesner O'Brien.
“Delivering goods by water and electric cargo bikes will avoid street traffic and congestion, making it faster than truck delivery,” she explained. “As the business model expands, it will drive down the costs, making it competitive or even cheaper than truck delivery.”
Some 90 percent of freight in New York City moves via truck, adding up to more than 2 million packages daily, said officials. Freight emissions in the United States grew five times more than passenger emissions from 1990 to 2021, largely because of an increase in freight trucking, according to a 2025 report by the Urban Freight Lab at the University of Washington.
“Our supply chain is critical to feeding NYC and fresh seafood distribution is essential to NYC’s restaurant and tourism industries,” said Nicole Ackerina, CEO, Fulton Fish Market Cooperative, in a statement. “This demonstration and forthcoming pilots are examples of the progress and impact that can be made when industry and government put their heads together to serve local community needs, and take action.”
