One year after the Port Authority launched a new Girl Scout badge to encourage and educate girls in science, technology, engineering and math careers, the agency marked the partnership by sending a box of Raspberry Rally cookies across the Hudson River. In just 15 minutes, the 10-ounce box of cookies traveled from Greenville Yards in Jersey City, N.J., to Brooklyn, N.Y., without crossing a bridge or a tunnel or riding a boat.
The precious commodity of cookies, procured by a neighbor of the agency’s program director of innovation, provided the payload for the agency’s first test of a small, unmanned aircraft used for delivery purposes. Program Director Seth Wainer chose the cookies to highlight the Port Authority’s support of the Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey (GSHNJ)’s Port Authority educational patch for cadettes, seniors and ambassadors.
On a recent May morning with clouds threatening to rain on a small crew of the agency’s emergency management staff, Port Authority police, New York New Jersey Rail (NYNJR) officials and NUAIR personnel, a black heavy-lift autonomous drone lifted 150 feet up from the gravel of Greenville Yards and sped across the Hudson River.
Within 15 minutes, the drone flew more than 3 miles across the river to the 65th Street Rail Yard in Brooklyn, which is the eastern terminus of NYNJR, the Port Authority’s short line marine railroad. A one-way trip from Newark Liberty International Airport to Brooklyn could have taken up to an hour for the 25-mile route by land. For the drone, it took all of 10 minutes to return from Brooklyn to Jersey City. The Port Authority and NUAIR staff confirmed the payload on arrival, then opened the box and shared a cookie toast to the success of the demo.
While the test was the first time the agency tested drones for cargo delivery, the Port Authority is well-versed in using small, unmanned aircraft. The agency currently operates a fleet of six unmanned aircraft through its office of emergency management at facilities from its bridges and marine terminals, and in uses ranging from major capital projects to maintenance. Drones were used to plan the project raising the roadway of the Bayonne Bridge; to perform visual inspections at the George Washington Bridge; to assist public safety campaigns; and most recently to help with berth maintenance at its marine terminals.
The agency is interested in finding more environmentally friendly solutions to middle-mile cargo delivery, which refers to the movement of goods between warehouses or fulfilment centers, rather than delivery to a retail store or home. The Port Authority’s vehicular crossings, such as the George Washington Bridge and the NYNJR cross-harbor railcar float, are currently the most commonly used paths of such deliveries between New York City and the U.S. mainland. A one-way truck trip can take two hours on the region’s congested roads and highways. The NYNJR cross-harbor railcar float helps to remove some of those trucks, as a one-way trip via the railcar float can carry as many as 18 rail cars, with each rail carload equaling the load of up to four heavy-duty trucks. In 2022, the agency’s six crossings collectively handled more than 8 million eastbound truck trips, while NYNJR floated approximately 4,500 loaded railcars in the full year 2022.
“Technology moves very fast, you see cars with features now that they didn’t have 10 years ago,” Wainer said. “But we see the drone cargo space, especially for middle-mile, which allows shippers to move goods from a fixed point to a fixed point, as having strong opportunities over the next five years.”
Getting into position for takeoff
Arranging the cargo drone demo in itself was no small feat considering the geographical locations of the takeoff and landing sites: within the restricted and very complex airspace between New York City and New Jersey that is filled with helicopters and above them, airplanes. If delivery by drone is to become a reality in the region, the Port Authority must work closely with the FAA and every jurisdiction touched by a possible drone flight path.
With the success of the demo, the Port Authority is now seeking private-sector participants interested in establishing cross-Hudson River air corridors and complementary infrastructure in the future through a Request for Innovation (RFI).
Top Photo: NUAIR staff loading the precious cargo
All photos courtesy of PANYNJ
Source: Press Release