Port Authority Continues Record-Setting Cargo, Passenger Volumes

NEW YORK CITY— The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey reports its transportation facilities set new records for passenger volumes at its airports, PATH and cargo shipped via rail for the month of January.

The facility records follow a record-breaking 2019 during which passenger and cargo volumes set new annual records at its airports, seaport, PATH rail system and Staten Island bridges system.

The Port of New York and New Jersey handled 617,024 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) in January 2020, the second busiest January on record. The Port Authority’s ExpressRail system set a monthly record for January, handling 61,415 containers, up by more than 12% compared to the previous January record of 54,705 containers moved by rail in January 2019.

The agency’s cumulative total of 10.2 million passengers handled in January at John F. Kennedy International, Newark Liberty International and LaGuardia Airport, broke the previous January record set in 2019 by 1.5%. Monthly individual airport records for January also were set at JFK (4.7 million passengers, up 1.6% over previous 2019 record), Newark Liberty (3.4 million passengers, up 1.9% over previous 2019 record) and LaGuardia (2.1 million, 1.5% higher than the previous 2019 record).

The Port Authority’s two AirTrain systems—AirTrain JFK and AirTrain Newark—both set January ridership records in January 2020. AirTrain JFK handled 1,618,587 riders in January, up 4.9% from the previous record for January set in 2019, while AirTrain Newark handled 794,868 riders setting a January record, which was 2.8% higher than the previous record set in 2019.

PATH set a record for average weekday ridership during the month of January, handling an average 277,234 passengers each weekday in January 2020. In addition, PATH handled 6.62 million passengers, a 2.2% increase over the previous record for January set in January 2019. The highest one-day ridership in January was 290,669 passengers on January 29.

The Goethals Bridge also set a new monthly record for January with 1,373,385 eastbound vehicles handled, beating the previous January record of 1,326,867. As a whole, the Staten Island Bridges system also established a record for January reporting a record 2,830,411 vehicles, a 5.9% increase over the previous January record set in 2019.

In addition, the Port Authority’s entire bridges and tunnels portfolio—including the George Washington Bridge, the Lincoln and Holland tunnels and the Staten Island Bridges—handled 9.57 million eastbound vehicles in January, the highest January total in 11 years.