Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

solo-ran t1_j9vbadj wrote

I hate the BQE with a passion because I have to drive a truck on it. Trucks bring in almost every bite of food everyone in the city eats, etc. trucks keep the city alive. Truck drivers are tortured in New York, especially on the BQE. Whatever the solution, a BQE tunnel with few on or off ramps and maybe ezpass congestion pricing for commercial traffic would help defray costs. I would pay a $30 toll to get the cars out of there and do my route.

43

Bertie_Woo t1_j9yqjvm wrote

I think we should fund a 6+ lane tunnel with bonds purchased by Brooklyn Heights residents and charge tolls to private drivers, but not trucks.

0

Grass8989 t1_j9vgr4n wrote

Why not do your deliveries by bike?

−23

solo-ran t1_j9vhd1e wrote

Wouldn't work for my business - trust me. And I don't know about getting products into a grocery store either. But some e-bike on bike lane deliveries will be faster and cheaper I'm sure - and then businesses will need local warehouses which cost millions and that'll be another deal breaker. Conceivably, you could have a warehouse close to Brooklyn or way out in an affordable part and then deliver products on bike lanes if the infrastructure was there but you'd still need trucks to bring the products to the warehouse from far away. Somehow, the city has to accommodate trucks. The city does not have to accommodate private personal vehicles for trips that could be made with public transport.

14

Grass8989 t1_j9vjwd9 wrote

I was being ironic because people would actually suggest that and be serious.

23

TeamMisha t1_j9wdo46 wrote

No one (reputable, that I've seen anyways) is suggesting we entirely replace trucks with bikes, come on lol. The use cases being studied and considered are expanding what we already do, such as Amazon using cargo bikes for neighborhood level last mile delivery. UPS is piloting it too. This is private enterprise doing this btw, no one is forcing them, Amazon is all about money so IMO it says a lot they favor using this method when possible meaning it's probably quite cost effective.

5

Grass8989 t1_j9wiuz2 wrote

Amazon is quickly transfering their fleet to EVs, so they’re already significantly decreasing costs. I’ve been seeing their rivian based vans all over the place.

2

TeamMisha t1_j9wj7bh wrote

Yes they use the vans as well. The bikes they use in Manhattan all over the place and also via Whole Foods. This is in essence studying "mini logistics" systems, you send the truck to unload at a mini warehouse and then use cargo bikes or other sort of micro vehicles to ship out the goods. Gorilla and Getr use(d) this model as well. It doesn't necessarily make sense to use a van or truck for all cases.

3

pompcaldor t1_j9ymk6t wrote

If “mini warehouse” means a truck occupying and blocking a bike lane, then yes.

Edit: more recent evidence of mini warehouses parked illegally

2

TeamMisha t1_j9yxp1d wrote

Don't mean that, no. I mean a physical building. Amazon, unfortunately, uses trucks as the logistics center and will have up to a dozen workers unpack and sort the contents right there in the street or sidewalk and often, as you mention, block bike lanes, bus lanes, or the road itself. There is some discussion about moving this behavior to actual logistics centers, and discussions about zoning that would allow this, since "warehousing" is technically a different zone type then retail. In the case of Whole Foods, however, they park bikes outside the store where they load them and send them out, that's the more ideal model, or if they were to rent space to use as storage hubs. I'm opposed to their truck model, unless, they can park it safely. That's another discussion though about curb management.

2

solo-ran t1_j9w9tyo wrote

I should have guessed… instead I thought: could we make deliveries with a cargo ebike? Sometimes maybe. And if we had a building and safe efficient bike paths, did small deliveries… maybe it would be better in some ways. It’s actually a good idea - without replacing sitting in a truck on the BQE wishing there were more to life. The truck still would have to get to the warehouse.

1

ReadItUser42069365 t1_j9wypeo wrote

Yea people are fairly ignorant (myself included) of what is it last mile delivery? In a perfect would we would have invested more in rail and then doing lasting delivery from train station adjacent warehouses. How better rails into nyc would have looked? Fuck if I know but this shit right now sure is a mess. Thanks for bringing in my shit tho. I'll be letting you zipper merge only to have BMW or Acura cut us off

0