JFK truck congestion study
GatewayJFK & Rutgers to explore solutions
GatewayJFK gives to community youth
AIRPORT VOICE, JULY 2021 39
5 Scholarships and Laptops to local students
This graduation season GatewayJFK,
a Business Improvement District
located along Rockaway Blvd. in
Southeast Queens awarded $5,000
in scholarships to College and Trade
school students and donated 14 laptops
to graduates of Q498 the Humanities
& Arts Magnet High School in Cambria
Heights.
Three awards were given to students
pursuing studies related to Aviation including
Vitaliy Matsko of York College,
Delroy Walters of York College and Simarjit
Singh of Vaughn College. Two additional
scholarships were awarded to
Kwanita Williams of LaGuardia Community
College, and Danielle Daniels of Howard
University as part of an effort support
students from Southeast Queens.
In addition to individual scholarships
for college aged students, GatewayJFK
handed out 14 laptops to high school
graduates from Q498 on May 23rd, students
were selected based on a mix of
both academic prowess and economic
hardship.
This is the first year GatewayJFK has
awarded Scholarships. The organization
sees the program as part of its mission
to support both the business community
and local community by investing in the
future of the aviation industry and the human
capital of our region.
Through this scholarship GatewayJFK
hopes to bring visibility to the local
aviation/air cargo industry and inform
local students about the wide variety of
career opportunities available in the industry.
Dieusita Jean, Operations Manager
for GatewayJFK is a graduate of Q498,
she spoke about the program before
she handed out laptops to students from
her formal school. “By investing in these
scholars, we are investing in the future
of the aviation/air cargo and Southeast
Queens as well. And, if this year’s scholarship
recipients are any indication, the
future looks bright.”
The 2021 GatewayJFK Scholarship is
made possible through support from business
and residents in the community.
A new effort between the Rutgers
Center for Advanced Infrastructure and
Transportation (CAIT) and GatewayJFK
aims to quantify the effects of improving
cargo truck flow at JFK International
Airport, find technologies and identify
potential business models to help improve
ongoing issues related to congestion
that are affecting the airport and air
cargo industry.
Dr. Kazem Oryani, a professor at
Rutgers and Farmingdale State College,
is leading the project. He said this
research will examine truck movements
and determine best practices to minimize
truck wait times at JFK “This includes
getting cargo on and off planes,
ensuring security and customs compliance,
streamlining warehouse operations,
examining parking issues, and coordinating
airport operations with freight
forwarders and truckers to expedite the
flow of export and import cargo” he said.
“We expect to prove that optimizing the
JFK cargo flow system will generate
economic, environmental, and equity
improvements for the local communities
and businesses surrounding the airport.”
Research will include exploring the
potential for development of a mobile
phone application, determining its benefits,
and incentives key stakeholders
would have to voluntarily use the application.
“This tool could potentially help
inform truck drivers when and where
cargo is available for pickup, manage
truck dispatching, and collect important
data on how cargo is moving throughout
the facility,” Dr. Oryani said.
Wait times have been an ongoing
concern for the logistics businesses
who operate within and around JFK airport,
according to Scott Grimm-Lyon,
the Executive Director of GatewayJFK,
a business improvement district that includes
600 businesses that operate off
airport property. “When we speak to
cargo business in our community, congestion
is their number one concern,”
said Grimm-Lyon “We hope this project
can help us tackle a problem that has
diminished cargo capacity at JFK and
help us find a win-win solution that will
add value to the operations of airlines,
ground handlers, freight-forwarders,
and trucking companies in the area.”
The research will also include estimates
of regional and local economic
benefits stemming from a reduction in
truck wait times, and an economic model
will quantify the value of these improvements
to businesses depending upon,
and to the communities surrounding,
JFK Airport. Members of the businesses
community who are interested in supporting
the research can participate by
taking a survey at www.gatewayjfk.org/
survey.
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