Does road pricing affect port freight activity: Recent evidence from the port of New York and New Jersey David A. King a , Cameron E. Gordon b , Jonathan R. Peters c, d, * a Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, 400 Avery Hall, MC 0356,1172 Amsterdam Avenue, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA b University of Canberra Faculty of Business and Government Bruce, ACT 2601 Australia c The College of Staten Island, Staten Island, NY, USA d University Transportation Research Center e Region II, The City College of New York, New York, NY, USA article info Article history: Available online 17 May 2014 JELs classification: R1 General Regional Economics R3 Transportation Systems H2 Taxation Subsidies and Revenue H3 Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents D4 Market Structure and Pricing Keywords: New York City Freight Tolling Road pricing Infrastructure finance Port commerce abstract In this paper, we examine the movement of container freight in, out and around the third largest maritime port in the United States and the use of toll facilities by these freight movements. Under- standing how road pricing affects freight activity is of significant interest to transport planners, port operators and commercial interests with regards to regional competitiveness and economic development. Using a unique survey of truck activity at two maritime terminals in the Port of New York and New Jersey, we examine the frequency of truck trips, toll costs and trip distance, and how these characteristics may affect port freight costs and operations by location. Key findings indicate that while the New York ports serve 19 states and Canada, the vast bulk of cargo moves are short haul trips of less than 50 miles one way from the port facility. We also find that toll charges in the New York City metropolitan region may represent over 50% of the total costs for a short haul truck trip into or out of a maritime port depending on the location of the port facility. The results presented suggest that road toll programs can place non-trivial costs on truck trips to/from major regional freight centers. Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The New York City metropolitan area represents a massive market for goods movement, both for end point consumption and as a trans-modal point of entry for air and maritime freight. The New York region boasts nearly 20 million residents and sits at the center of the Northeast Corridor megalopolitan region that features about 18 percent of the U.S. population and 20 percent of the na- tion’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Goods movement into and out of the New York and New Jersey region is a major economic activity, and the transport and delivery of goods represents about eight percent of total employment growth in recent years, and 1 in 13 jobs in New York State is being supported by the trucking in- dustry. The 405 million tons of freight annually leaving, arriving and moving through the ten-county region within the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC 2014) jurisdiction had a total economic value of $1.34 trillion in 2007, and most of this freight arrived at and left the ports by truck. In 2012, the bridges and tunnels between New York and New Jersey had 105,895,000 vehicles crossing, including 7,401,000 trucks (PANYNJ 2012). At the core of this freight traffic is the third largest maritime port district in the United States. The maritime commerce activ- ities of the Port of New York and New Jersey are mainly located around the perimeter of the deep water port of the Upper New York Bay. Since the advent of containerization for goods shipping in the 1960’s, the port freight facilities have concentrated in five major container facilities around the Upper Bay e three in New Jersey, one in Staten Island and two minor facilities in Brooklyn. Fig. 1 provides a map of the major maritime freight facilities and highway network. Hauling freight by truck in New York City is a challenging un- dertaking. The 2001 NYMTC report summarizes the physical and capacity constraints on the industry: * Corresponding author. Room 3N-207, 2800 Victory Blvd. Staten Island, New York 10314, USA. Tel.: þ1 718 982 2958; fax: þ1 718 982 2965. E-mail addresses: dk2475@columbia.edu (D.A. King), jonathan.peters@csi.cuny. edu (J.R. Peters). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Research in Transportation Economics journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/retrec http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2014.04.002 0739-8859/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Research in Transportation Economics 44 (2014) 2e11