Introduction
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) is located between the New York harbor and the Hudson River and was established in 1921 to administer common harbor interests of both New York and New Jersey (Info Please para. 4).
It covers almost 1500 square miles of both states with New York as the centre. PANYNY is mandated with the responsibility of undertaking any project that aims at promoting commerce, trade, and public good. The sources of revenue for PANYNJ include issuance of bonds, charging user fees and also rent collections.
The services and infrastructure provided include:
- George Washington Bridge: This is a suspension bridge that connects Fort Lee, New Jersey and the northern part of Manhattan. It was initially known as Hudson River Bridge and can handle 106 million vehicles in a year, making it one of the busiest in the world.
- Holland tunnel: this tunnel was opened in 1927 and it has nine toll lanes that handle nearly 17 million vehicles. Holland tunnel connects Manhattan’s Canal and the 12th and 14th street found in Jersey. It was Clifford Holland who constructed the tunnel.
- Bayonne Bridge: This is the link between the Island of Staten and New Jersey. This bridge is unique in that it is built over ferry route connecting Port Richmond, New York and Bayonne, New Jersey. The city planners did think of Bayonne Bridge saving commuters from automobile traffic. The commuters came from the state Island-communities and used to work in Lower Manhattan. The bedroom communities came about with the construction of the Bridge.
- Goethals Bridge: this bridge was built to accommodate traffic of automobiles after the First World War. The bridge is among the bridges that join the New Jersey and New York. As a result of being easily accessible, it is the main connector of New York’s and Brooklyn’s dwellers.
- Lincoln Tunnel: This tunnel was built after Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had acquired Holland tunnels in 1930. Construction of this tunnel consumed massive quantities of iron and other materials. The port authority of New York and New Jersey is still maintaining and operating this tunnel while looking for ways to deal with congestion.
- Outer bridge crossing: This was opened to traffic in 1928 and is under the maintenance of Port Authority of NY and NJ.
- JFK International Airport: this particular airport is ranked first in terms of the capacity of its cargo center. Due to its expansion, the airport has close to four million squares of feet occupied with offices and warehouse. The space is set aside for cargo operating in New York and Jersey.
- This international airport is based on the Jamaican Bay along the Queens areas in the city of New York. JFK international airport accommodates long-haul international traffic. At least one thousand cargo companies are based at this airport. JFK international airport became the first international airport to use computerized cargo clearing system, making processing cargo faster and boosting security (Petersen 38).
- Newark Liberty Airport: This airport is located in Newark, New Jersey, near the Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal. Its cargo storage space is smaller than that of JFK international airport, with almost 1.4 million square feet of cargo space in buildings. Some of the cargo handling facilities in Newark Airport includes United Airlines, FedEx cargo complex, United Parcel Services (UPS), Continental airlines and Building 157.
Terminals
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has been rapidly expanding its container-handling capabilities to coincide with the 2014 completion opening up of the Panama Canal expansion. Volumes of trading are projected to double or even triple in the coming decade. For this reason, the authority is keen on completing the process of expansion. The technologies of Modern rail terminal are the major contributors of the ten berths. Four of the berths are at Maher Terminals.
Three others are at the APM Terminals, a further two at Port Newark Container Terminal in Newark, N.J. The other Terminal for the New York Container is in Staten Island, known as N.Y or port authority of New Jersey and New York.
Types of cargo being handled include:
Containers: Most terminals of Port Authority of New York and New Jersey handle this
Cargo. These terminals include New York Container Terminal, ASI terminals, American stevedoring, Global marine terminal, Port Newark container terminal and Maher terminal.
RO-RO: ASI terminal and Global terminals handle such cargoes in the PANYNJ,
Break-bulk: ASI handles this cargo. It is also known as General cargo.
Some of the cargo handling facilities in use here includes computerized truck gates, forklifts, container handlers, and yard tractors. Others include Straddle Carriers, computer equivehicles. There is also On-Dock Customs Inspection of the United States, station for the On- Dock container freight, yard hustlers and Wheel reefed plugs among others.
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is headed by an executive director and assisted by deputy director. Currently, it is headed by Christopher Ward with the assistance of Bill Baroni.
Operators of PANYNJ
The main operators of Port of New York and New Jersey are firms such as stevedoring firms, terminal operators, cargo handling companies with a goal to make maximum profits and gain additional market share. The main operations in the port are airlines operations.
Some of the biggest airports in New York include: John Kennedy International Airport, the LaGuardia Airport and Stewart international Airport. Others include New liberty international airport and Teterboro Airport. The JFK airport has up to seven airline terminals fully operating. It has a peripheral taxiways surrounding it, and with more than 125 gates at its terminal.
In addition to that, JFK has large international air for cargo. The cargo facilities are two, and each has over 200000 square foot of space. JFK airport has more than one million square feet of warehouse designed for station freight operators and freight forwarders. Other operations include foreign trade, wholesaling, financial, shipbuilding and industrial activities.
PANYNJ employs directly almost tens of thousands of people while indirectly employing several tens of thousands in the form of suppliers and service providers in the communities it serves. This is one of the greatest achievements of PANYNJ.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is collaborating with the United States Army Corps of Engineers to increase the depth of port harbors in order to accommodate big vessels and provide a superior ocean access to meet demand of international cargo. New York Jersey’s port authority aims at optimally providing the most access and accommodation to the great international cargo demand throughout the area and its surroundings.
Port management Information System
It is important to note that port terminals use management information system. Management Information System (MIS) refers to provision of information to the senior management of firm to aid in accurate decision making process. The main components of a MIS are hardware, the software, the technology and the end user. In this case, the managerial and users are the port operators (UNCTAD 8). PMIS makes it possible for the managers of the ports to make non-routine or non-programmable decisions based on information available. Road Weather Information System (RWIS) is a special kind of PMIS which is useful in detection of lightning, accurate weather forecasting and providing data services to the main airports of PANYANJ (Oyj par. 3).
The advantages of Road Weather Information system are:
Provision of weather monitoring support: This ensures that weather around the 5 airports (John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia, Stewart International, Newark and Teterboro) is accurately predicted. Accuracy of the system is achieved by complete computerization of the operations. Data pertaining to weather can be retrieved quickly and easily since all the data is integrated into one database. PMIS provides up to date information of various PANYNJ departments to management so that they can take appropriate action.
Minimize delays. Since airports require very accurate weather information all the time, use of road weather information system has enabled planes to lift off without unnecessary delays (Oyj par. 6).
The disadvantages of road weather information system are:
There is the possibility of system malfunction, and could bring catastrophes to the organization. This is because the system, just like any other system, is prone to errors. Additionally, poorly programmed or non-secure systems in which data can be manipulated and/or systems requiring constant repairs can easily disrupt routine work flow and can lead to incorrect decisions.
Another shortcoming of RWIS is that it constantly needs maintenance and upgrading for it to function effectively and efficiently. It is expensive to acquire, install such an advanced information system. The end users of the system have to go through thorough training, and this is also costly.
The main reason for the success of Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is the adoption of strategic planning. This enabled them to critically scan both the internal and external environments for opportunities and threats (Port Authority of New York 18). Strategic planning determines the general direction of the organization in the next few years (Shapiro 3).
It shows where a corporation is going over the next year or more, how it is going to get there and how it will know if it got there or not. The strategic plan focuses on organization as a whole. In this case Port of New York and New Jersey’s strategic plan zeros in on the whole organization including airports and its seaports.
Conclusion
The Port of New York and New Jersey has witnessed tremendous growth since its inception in 1921. Since then the port has attained rapid growth and in the process, it has overtaken other ports on the east side. With four separate airports connected by extensive and sophisticated rail and road network, Port of New York and New Jersey is the most extensive air, surface, seaport complex in the world.
Works Cited
Comptroller of the currency administrator of National Banks. Management Information System: Comptrollers Handbook. 2000. Print.
Info Pleases. Port authority of New York and New Jersey. 2000. Web.
Oyj, Vaisala. Port authority of New York and New Jersey choose Vaisala weather Information system. 2010. Web.
The Port Authority of New York and Jersey. The port authority of New York and jersey. 2001. Web.
Petersen, John. Airfreight industry-white paper. Georgia: Georgia Institute of Technology. 2007. Print.
Shapiro, Janet. Strategic planning toolkit. Washington DC: Civicus. 1993. Print.
Terminal enhancements: New container terminals to lead facilities into the future. 2010. Web.
UNCTAD. Modern Port Management. Geneva: UNCTAD. 2007. Print.