Port Authority sees more pre-pandemic volumes in April

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The Port Authority announced its April facility volumes May 30, showing high travel demand and traffic at crossings that equal pre-pandemic levels.

The agency says its three major airports served the highest number of travelers of any April in its history at 12 million passengers, spearheaded by record-setting volumes at Newark Liberty International and LaGuardia airports. In fact, Newark served nearly 4.2 million travelers—a 6%percent jump compared with its previous April record from pre-pandemic 2019. However, volumes at the airports did decrease by 5% from March to April.

At the bistate agency’s six vehicular crossings, traffic volumes held steady last month versus April 2019, with about 10 million eastbound vehicles recorded, a similar volume to March 2023, as well.

The Port of New York and New Jersey moved nearly 650,000 TEU’s – 20-foot equivalent units – last month, positioning the port as the nation’s second busiest for the first four months of the year. The seaport moved 7% more cargo in April 2023 compared to pre-pandemic April 2019.

Despite a sluggish post-pandemic rebound, there were some bright spots in PATH ridership numbers, with an April average weekday ridership of 161,955 and a total of 4 million passengers for the month.

While that is just 57% of April 2019 ridership levels, this year’s average weekday ridership for the same month did mark the highest levels since the start of the pandemic and an increase of more than 4% over March 2023’s average weekday ridership.

All of these figures and trends come against the backdrop of the summer season entering full swing, kicked off by the recent Memorial Day weekend, which analysts predicted would see millions hitting the road and air, as NJBIZ reported. The Port Authority had expected nearly 5.5 million travelers across its facilities last weekend.