New York's Hugely Successful Late-Night Delivery Truck Program Is Heading to D.C.

New York's off-hour delivery program, whereby trucks make shipments at night rather than during the day, is the rare policy initiative that all parties consider a huge success. Pilot tests have found that truck speeds go up, shipment times go down, local traffic gets better, and the air gets cleaner. If every business in the city adopted the program, the economic benefits are estimated to be upwards of $193 million a year.

Other cities have taken notice. In particular, Washington, D.C., is in the early phases of a 3.5-year off-hour delivery pilot, with the help of a federal grant. Laura Richards of the District Department of Transportation tells CityLab that right now the city is identifying potential business participants and hopes to have the program up and running in earnest by next year.