PANYNJ, PATH post record high July activity

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) posted record high activity for both its port and commuter-rail system in July.

The PANYNJ had its busiest July and seventh busiest month of all time. It handled 806,015 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), an 11% increase over July 2023 and a 4% increase over its previous record set in July 2022, PANYNJ officials said in a press release.

Last month's activity also marked the first time the port handled more than 800,000 TEUs within a month since September 2022. Cargo activity has grown as retailers prepare for back-to-school and holiday shopping, PANYNJ officials said.

In the first seven months of the year, the port handled 5,016,672 TEUs, a 12% increase from the same period in 2023 and a 16% jump from the first seven months of 2019.

Meanwhile, the Port Authority-Trans Hudson (PATH) commuter-rail service logged 4.9 million riders last month, an increase of 18% from July 2023. It was 68% of July 2019’s total ridership.

PATH officials contribute the 18% increase to the return of the July 4 Hudson River fireworks show. The PATH system moved 117,619 riders, making it the highest July 4 ridership since July 2013, the last year fireworks were launched from the Hudson.

PATH’s Saturday ridership in July surpassed prepandemic July 2019 Saturday ridership by 4%, and average Sunday ridership in July was on par with July 2019.