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Nosy Neighbor: How many people drive into downtown?
Consider this an appetizer to a soon-to-come congestion pricing post.
There was a question in comments from Ben a while back: “Have any statistics or numbers on how many drive? Of course the number exists, but would be more persuasive if you were specific.”
Tribecan Charlie Komanoff, who is a transportation expert and consultant, answered in the form of these handy pie charts. Wonky, yes, but so interesting to see. He assembled them from official sources based on *all* trips to the Central Business District, not just trips for work, in 2019, pre-pandemic. The Central Business District is defined by transportation agencies as Manhattan south of 60th Street, which happens to be the congestion pricing zone.
One more NB: the figures do NOT include *through* trips. They include only trips that “land” in the CBD.
Pie above is 2019. Pie below is 2019 but with congestion pricing. If you want to see the original data, Charlie has it in a spreadsheet here.
The city also has some data on car ownership in the recent NYC Streets Plan, that I wanted to tuck in here for future use. This is a chart of zero-vehicle households:
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Nearly every car I see parked on the streets of Tribeca has a placard. That’s a good place to start. For one: why isn’t every official vehicle at least a hybrid?
You really shouldn’t be quoting streetsblog or taking their research unvetter. He is not a journalist, he is an activist and everything they publish fits their agenda. you might as well print lobbyist. i know you’re a neighborhood paper, but beware of just reprinting propaganda.
You assert that the above pie chart includes *all* trips into the CBD. That is not the case. There are no motorcycles included in the above charts or figures. I personally know at least a dozen motorcyclists who regularly commute into the CBD on motorcycles or motor scooters. They’re extremely fuel efficient, lightweight, and you can park six motorbikes in one car space. That’s why people all over the world use them as affordable alternative transportation.
Really? The smallest pie slice shown, 0.1%, is 3,500 people, or nearly 300 dozen people.
It’s bad enough that we have an inflation now. Congestion pricing is only going to make the prices increase the cost of basics like food and goods. Congestion pricing adds a new problem. It’s not the solution.
People that own cars should be exempt. Yet another tax for property owners in our neighborhood.
“[…] Buried in the MTA’s environmental assessment for congestion pricing is this astounding factoid: one small slice of Lower Manhattan laps the field when it comes to people driving to work. And those people are, surprise!, mostly police. […]
“The Census tract in question is home to a number of law enforcement and government buildings, including One Police Plaza, Manhattan Criminal Court, New York Supreme Court, New York County Supreme Court, the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, One Centre Street and of course, City Hall.
“The large number of NYPD and other law enforcement officials driving to lower Manhattan could come into play when the Traffic Mobility Review Board, the panel tasked with recommending price and exemption policies for congestion pricing, begins to consider the various screams for exemptions. PBA President Pat Lynch has been demanding a carveout for cops, asking for one almost immediately after state legislators authorized the traffic toll. […]
“The EA also points out an important reason why lower Manhattan, with its bountiful subway connections, is such a rich vein of drive time radio listeners: parking placards.
” ‘The higher rate of auto commuting to these census tracts, and the high volume of auto commuting to Census Tract 29, are likely due to the availability of free parking and/or parking placards for some public administration employees,’ the assessment authors wrote. (A Streetsblog placard census earlier this year certainly confirmed that.) […]
“NYPD officers, at the very least, have less of an excuse to insist on driving to work, because they can get a free ride on transit if they choose. According to the MTA, the agency has given out 36,681 MetroCards to members of the NYPD.
But they, and their siblings in the federal building and court officer services, also go buck wild with placards all over lower Manhattan, especially on blocks just outside of Census Tract 29. As shown in the Streetsblog Placard Census, almost every car parked in the 30-block radius of Canal, Lafayette and Chambers streets and West Broadway and Varick Street had either a real or fake placard, or some other dashboard emblem that passes for a free parking sticker around here. […]”
https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2022/11/04/congestion-pricing-study-finds-law-enforcement-are-manhattans-most-numerous-car-commuters/