Transportation in New York City
The transportation system of New York City is a network of complex infrastructural systems. New York City, being the most populous city in the United States, has a transportation system which includes one of the largest and busiest subway systems in the world; the world's first mechanically ventilated vehicular tunnel; and an aerial tramway. New York City is home to an extensive bus system in each of the five boroughs; citywide and Staten Island ferry systems; and numerous yellow taxis and boro taxis throughout the city. Private cars are less used compared to other cities in the rest of the United States.
The airport system of the New York City metropolitan area, which includes John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport in Queens and Newark Liberty International Airport in North Jersey, Stewart Airport in Orange County, New York, and a few smaller facilities, is one of the largest in the world. The Port of New York and New Jersey, which includes the waterways of the New York City metropolitan area, is one of the busiest seaports in the United States.
There are three commuter rail systems, the PATH rapid transit system to New Jersey, and various ferries between Manhattan and New Jersey. Numerous separate bus systems operate to Westchester County, Nassau County, and New Jersey. For private vehicles, a system of expressways and parkways connects New York City with its suburbs.
Background
History
The history of New York City's transportation system began with the Dutch port of New Amsterdam. The port had maintained several roads; some were built atop former Lenape trails, others as "commuter" links to surrounding cities, and one was even paved by 1658 from orders of Petrus Stuyvesant, according to Burrow, et al. The 19th century brought changes to the format of the system's transport: the establishment of a Manhattan street grid through the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, as well as an unprecedented link between the then-separate cities of New York and Brooklyn via the Brooklyn Bridge, in 1883.The Second Industrial Revolution fundamentally changed the city; the port infrastructure grew so rapidly following the 1825 completion of the Erie Canal that New York City became the most important connection between all of Europe and the interior of the United States. Elevated trains and subterranean transportation, known as 'El trains' and 'subways', were introduced between 1867 and 1904.
In 1904, the first subway line became operational. Practical private automobiles brought an additional change to the city by around 1930, notably the 1927 Holland Tunnel. With automobiles gaining importance, the later rise of Robert Moses proved essential to creating New York's modern road infrastructure. Moses was the architect of all of the parkway, many other important roads, and seven great bridges.
Mass transit use and car ownership
New York City is distinguished from other U.S. cities for its low personal automobile ownership and its significant use of public transportation. New York City has, by far, the highest rate of public transportation use of any American city, with 55.6% of workers who commute getting to work by this means in 2023. About one in every three users of mass transit in the United States and two-thirds of the nation's rail riders live in New York City or its suburbs. However, New York City also has the longest mean travel time for commuters among major U.S. cities.New York is the only city in the United States where over half of all households do not own a car. However, absolute figures for car ownership are still high when compared to other cities: in 2019, 55% of households were not car owners, indicating that 45% of households did own a car.
Environmental and social issues
New York City's uniquely high rate of public transit use makes it one of the most energy-efficient cities in the United States. Gasoline consumption in the city today is at the rate of the national average in the 1920s. New York City's high rate of transit use saved of oil in 2006 and $4.6 billion in gasoline costs. New York saves half of all the oil saved by transit nationwide.The reduction in oil consumption meant 11.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide was kept out of the air. The New York City metro area was ranked by the Brookings Institution as the U.S. metro area with the lowest per-capita transportation-related carbon footprint and as the fourth lowest overall per-capita carbon footprint in 2005 among the 100 largest metro areas of the United States, outranked only by Honolulu, Los Angeles and Portland.
The city's transportation system, and the population density it makes possible, also have other effects. Scientists at Columbia University examined data from 13,102 adults in the city's five boroughs and identified correlations between New York's built environment and public health. New Yorkers residing in densely populated, pedestrian-friendly areas have significantly lower body mass index levels compared to other New Yorkers. Three characteristics of the city environment—living in areas with mixed residential and commercial uses, living near bus and subway stops and living in population-dense areas—were found to be inversely associated with BMI levels.
Despite the energy efficiency that results from high transit use, the city's streets are generally seen as being dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists., there are on average 225,000 crashes, 61,000 injuries, and 200+ deaths due to automobiles every year in New York City. Approximately 75% of city street space is devoted to moving cars and trucks at speed and parking these vehicles, while the other 25% of the street is left for pedestrians, bikes, and store fronts.
Commuting
Of all people who commuted to work in New York City in 2021, 32% use the subway, 30% drive alone, 12% take the bus, 10% walk to work, 4% travel by commuter rail, 5.6% carpool, 3.1% use a taxi, 1.7% ride their bicycle to work, and 0.4% travel by ferry. 54% of households in New York City do not own a car, and rely on public transportation.While the car culture is predominant in most American cities, mass transit is comparatively more heavily used in New York City. The subway is a popular location for politicians to meet voters during elections and is also a major venue for musicians. Each week, more than 100 musicians and ensembles ranging from classical to Cajun, bluegrass, African, South American and jazz genres, give over 150 New York City Transit sanctioned performances under the Music Under New York program, a few dozen of which are located throughout the subway system.
3.7 million people were employed in New York City; Manhattan is the main employment center with 56% of all jobs. Of those working in Manhattan, 30% commute from within Manhattan, while 17% come from Queens, 16% from Brooklyn, 8% from the Bronx, and 2.5% from Staten Island. Another 4.5% commute to Manhattan from Nassau County and 2% from Suffolk County on Long Island, while 4% commute from Westchester County. 5% commute from Bergen and Hudson counties in New Jersey. Some commuters come from Fairfield County in Connecticut. Some New Yorkers reverse commute to the suburbs: 3% travel to Nassau County, 1.5% to Westchester County, 0.7% to Hudson County, 0.6% to Bergen County, 0.5% to Suffolk County, and smaller percentages to other places in the metropolitan area.
On average, New Yorkers spend 1 hour and 27 minutes per weekday commuting with public transit. Of these, 31% ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 15 minutes, but 23% of riders wait for an average of over 20 minutes. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is.
Ridership
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority operates most of New York City's transit systems. Using census data, the MTA reported in August 2006 that ridership on its buses, subways and commuter trains in recent years has grown faster than population growth, indicating that more New Yorkers are choosing to use mass transit, despite poor service in some areas of New York City. With dramatic increases in fuel prices in 2008, as well as increased tourism and residential growth, ridership on buses and subways grew 3.1% up to about 2.37 billion trips a year compared to 2007. This is the highest ridership since 1965.In 2013, ridership on the New York City Subway was 1.7 billion, the highest ridership since 1946, despite Hurricane Sandy-related subway closures. Ridership in city buses was 803 million.
Transit culture
The system is a major venue for commerce, entertainment, and political activism. Much of the city, excluding Staten Island, relies on the subway, which is open 24 hours a day, as its main source of transportation. Campaigning at subway stations is a staple of New York elections akin to candidate appearances at small town diners during presidential campaigns in the rest of the country. Each week, more than 100 musicians and ensembles with a broad ranging of genres, including classical, bluegrass, African, South American, and jazz, give over 150 performances sanctioned by New York City Transit at 25 locations throughout the subway system, many under the Music Under New York program. There are many more who are unauthorized performers called buskers, who range from professionals putting on an impromptu show to panhandlers seeking donations by way of performance.The subways of New York have been venues for beauty pageants and guerrilla theater. The MTA's annual Miss Subways contest ran from 1941 to 1976 and again in 2004 under the revised name "Ms. Subways".
The subways and commuter rail systems also have some artworks in their stations, commissioned under the MTA Arts & Design umbrella.
Transit systems
Rail
The primary mode of transportation in New York City is rail. Only 6% of shopping trips in Manhattan involve the use of a car. The city's public transportation network is the most extensive and among the oldest in North America. Responsibility for managing the various components of the system falls to several government agencies. The largest and most important is the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a public benefit corporation in New York state, which runs two of the city's three rapid transit systems, most of its buses, and two of its three commuter rail networks.Ridership in the city increased 36% to 2.2 billion annual riders from 1995 to 2005, far outpacing population growth.
Average weekday subway ridership was 5.076 million in September 2006, while combined subway and bus ridership on an average weekday that month was 7.61 million.