Automotive

Driving In Manhattan Is Getting Actively Worse


A Mazda RX-2 waits in Time Square traffic as part of the 7s Day run in 2018.
A Mazda RX-2 waits in Time Square traffic as part of the 7s Day run in 2018.
Photo: Raphael Orlove/Jalopnik

Anyone who drives in Manhattan knows that it’s trash, but even I was surprised by new data published by the NYC Department of Transportation that average speeds were down to all of 7 mph.

The NYC DOT’s 2018 mobility report came out today with the findings, in this case specifically referring to driving below 60th street with the 7 mph figure. You can read the report in full here for more.

(The report is topped with a photo of an unprotected bike lane in Brooklyn, somewhat ironic given the genuinely horrific rash of bike deaths the city has had this year, but that’s a story for a different time.)

In any case, driving is real bad, as the New York Daily News gathers from the report:

That’s 23% slower than cars moved throughout the area in 2010, and marks the slowest pace of car traffic “in memory,” according to DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg.

[…]

“The trends right now are unsustainable,” said Trottenberg. “If you ask people to get out of their cars and pay more, you’ve got to give them good options.

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Trottenberg believes that congestion pricing will make things better, but I don’t expect any major improvements until the city gets tough with Uber and Lyft. That or the two rideshare companies implode. Either way!

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