From traffic and congestion to limited parking options, we approach delivering packages in big, dense cities like New York differently, in order to address their unique complexities and characteristics. With New Yorkers receiving over 2 million deliveries daily, Amazon began exploring new and innovative ways to reach customers’ doorsteps—or in this case lobbies, mail rooms and stoops—aligned with efforts to deliver with fewer emissions to reach its commitment to The Climate Pledge.
In 2019, Amazon announced its goal to roll out 100,000 electric delivery vehicles from Rivian, and started rolling out alternative delivery methods, like bike deliveries, to help relieve congested city streets, avoid carbon emissions, and create more jobs. In 2023 alone, close to 50 million packages were delivered to Amazon customers through these programs in New York City.
From bikes and on-foot deliveries to local stores, watch and learn about the creative ways Amazon partners are delivering packages for New York City customers:
Bikes
In 2019, Amazon began testing e-cargo bikes for grocery deliveries in New York. Today, the majority of Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh grocery deliveries in Manhattan are now completed via bikes.
In March 2023, the e-cargo bike pilot was expanded to package delivery in Brooklyn, with Delivery Service Partner Delivery Associates delivering over 500 Amazon packages every day to customers.
Photo by CAITLIN OCHS
Amazon also started piloting a new model of e-cargo delivery bike in Brooklyn in November 2024 that can carry up to 120 packages per trip.
Amazon collaborates closely with the New York Department of Transportation to add protected cargo bike corrals, where bikers can safely load customer orders and store their bikes.
“Amazon has demonstrated real leadership and commitment to innovative and safe micromobility solutions, especially bike delivery," said Tom Wright, president & CEO, Regional Plan Association. "These micromobility solutions significantly advance the city and region's sustainability goals by avoiding vehicle emissions and preventing traffic congestion. These are important and positive steps towards the larger goals of making New York a safer, healthier, more sustainable, and equitable city."
Amazon packages reach customers on hundreds of bikes across New York, and bike deliveries are also made in large cities across the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, France Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
On-foot deliveries
In New York, many customer orders are delivered by Delivery Service Partner Delivery Associates on foot. More than 1,300 Delivery Associates in Manhattan and a small area of Queens use pushcarts to deliver packages to Amazon customers every day. In 2023, they delivered up to 220,000 packages daily, reducing the need for hundreds of vehicles on the road every day.
This model has also been adopted in cities across Europe, like London and Paris.
Small businesses
Small businesses, from coffee shops to bodegas, have been delivering Amazon packages to customers in Manhattan since 2023. The Hub Delivery program is a flexible way for small business owners to boost their bottom line, and be more connected to their local community. Each Amazon Hub Delivery partner in Manhattan delivers about 30 packages every day, within a few-block radius of their store, working with their existing staff, and around their business’ operating schedule.
The Hub Delivery program is currently available in India, Japan, Mexico, and Spain and is looking for partners in rural areas and big cities in the U.S.
