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Transportation in New York City

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Transportation in New York City
Overview
OwnerMetropolitan Transportation Authority, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, local governments, states
LocaleNew York City and the surrounding region in the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania
Transit typeRapid transit, commuter rail, buses, private automobile, ferry, Taxicab, bicycle, pedestrian
Daily ridershipMore than ten million commuters daily
Operation
Operator(s)Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, Port Authority Trans-Hudson, New Jersey Transit, and private operators

The transportation system of New York City is a cooperation of complex systems of infrastructure. New York City, being the most populous city in the United States, has a transportation system which includes one of the largest subway systems in the world, measured by track mileage; the world's first mechanically ventilated vehicular tunnel, and an aerial tramway.

Background

An 1807 version of grid plan for Manhattan.

History

Main article: History of New York City transportation

The history of New York City's transportation system began with the Dutch port of Nieuw 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.[1] The 19th century brought changes to the format of the system's transport- a street grid by 1811 (see the Commissioners' Plan of 1811), as well as an unprecedented link between New York and Brooklyn, then separate cities, via the Brooklyn Bridge, in 1883.

The Second Industrial Revolution fundamentally changed the city – the port infrastructure grew at such a rapid pace after the 1825 completion of the Erie Canal that New York became the most important connection between all of Europe and the interior of the United States. Elevated trains and subterranean transportation ('El trains' and 'subways') were introduced between 1867 and 1904. In 1904, the first subway line became operational.[2] Practical private automobiles brought an additional change for the city by around 1930, notably the 1927 Holland Tunnel. With automobiles gaining importance, the later rise of Robert Moses was essential to creating New York's modern road infrastructure. Moses was the architect of all 416 miles (669 km) of parkway, many other important roads, and seven great bridges.[3]

Mass transit use and car ownership

Crowds on an F subway train on a Sunday afternoon.

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 54.2% of workers commuting to work by this means in 2006.[4] 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.[5] New York is the only city in the United States where over half of all households do not own a car (Manhattan's non-ownership is even higher - around 75%; nationally, the rate is 8%).[6]

Percentage of workers using public transportation for their commute and the mean travel time for major cities in the United States in 2006.

New York City also has the longest mean travel time for commuters (39 minutes) among major U.S. cities.[4]

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.[7] New York City's high rate of transit use saved 1.8 billion US gallons (6,800,000 m3) 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 pollution was kept out of the air.[8] 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.[9]

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 (BMI) 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.[10]

See also: Environmental issues in New York City

Commuting/modal split

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge links the boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Of all people who commute to work in New York City, 41% use the subway, 24% drive alone, 12% take the bus, 10% walk to work, 2% travel by commuter rail, 5% carpool, 1% use a taxi, 0.6% ride their bicycle to work, and 0.2% travel by ferry.[11] 54% of households in New York City do not own a car, and rely on public transportation.[12] While the so-called car culture dominates in most American cities, mass transit has a defining influence on New York life. 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 in genre from classical to Cajun, bluegrass, African, South American and jazz – give over 150 performances sanctioned by New York City Transit at 25 locations throughout the subway system.[13]

New York City compared
Texas Transportation Institute Data New York Los Angeles Chicago
Surveyed metro population 17.7 million 12.5 million 9.8 million
Annual congestion delay per person 23 hrs 50 hrs 37 hrs
Annual congestion cost per person $383 $855 $631
Rush hours per day 6 hrs 8 hrs 8 hrs
Annual passenger miles of travel on public transit 18.5 billion 2.8 billion 2.2 billion
Annual congestion cost saved by public transit $4.9 billion $2.2 billion $1.3 billion
Excess fuel consumed per person due to congestion 11 gal
(42 L)		 33 gal
(125 L)		 23 gal
(87 L)
Data from 2003 TTI Urban Mobility Report

3.7 million people were employed in New York City; Manhattan is the main employment center with 56% of all jobs.[14] 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.[14] 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.[14]

Transit systems

Main article: Mass transit in New York City

Rail

The New York City Subway is the lifeblood of the city. Shown is the Broadway – Lafayette Station on the IND.
Entrance to the 59th Street – Columbus Circle station.

By far the dominant mode of transportation in New York City is rail. Only 6% of shopping trips in Manhattan's Central Business District involve the use of a car.[15] 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 (MTA), a public benefit corporation in the state of New York, which runs all of the city's subways and 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.[16][17] 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.[18]

Subway systems

New York City Subway
Main articles: New York City Subway and Staten Island Railway

The New York City Subway is the largest subway system in the world when measured by track mileage (656 miles, or 1,056 km of mainline track), and the fourth-largest when measured by annual ridership (1.4 billion passenger trips in 2005).[5] It is the second-oldest subway system in the United States after the rapid transit system in Boston. In 2002, an average 4.8 million passengers used the subway each weekday. During one day in September 2005, 7.5 million daily riders set a record for ridership. In 2013, the subway delivered over 1.71 billion rides,[19] averaging approximately 5.5 million rides on weekdays, about 3.2 million rides on Saturdays, and about 2.6 million rides on Sundays. Ridership has been consistently increasing over the last several years, especially because of rising gas prices and the subway's energy efficiency.[20][21][22][23][24] Life in New York City is so dependent on the subway that the city is home to two of only four 24-hour subway systems in the USA.[25] The city's 24 subway services run through all boroughs except Staten Island, which is served 24/7 by the Staten Island Railway.

Subway riders pay with the MetroCard, which is also valid on all other rapid transit systems and buses in the city, as well as the Roosevelt Island tramway. The MetroCard has completely replaced tokens, which were used in the past, to pay fares. Fares are loaded electronically on the card.

A PATH train at the World Trade Center station.
PATH
Main article: Port Authority Trans-Hudson

The Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) is a rapid transit system that links Manhattan to Jersey City, Hoboken, Harrison and Newark, in New Jersey. A primary transit link between Manhattan and New Jersey, PATH carries 240,000 passengers each weekday on four lines.[26]

While some PATH stations are adjacent to subway stations in New York City and Newark as well as Hudson-Bergen Light Rail stations in Hudson County, there are no free transfers. The PATH system spans 13.8 miles (22.2 km) of route mileage, not including track overlap.[27] Like the New York City Subway, PATH operates 24 hours a day. Opened in 1908 as the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad, a privately owned corporation, PATH since 1962 has been operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

AirTrain at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Airport services

Main articles: AirTrain JFK and AirTrain Newark

John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty airports are served by intermodal rail systems. AirTrain JFK is an 8.1 mi (13 km) rapid transit system that connects Kennedy to New York's subway and commuter rail network in Queens. It also provides free transit between airport terminals. For trips beyond the airport, the train costs $5. Roughly 4 million people rode the AirTrain to and from Kennedy in 2006, an increase of about 15% over 2005.[28] AirTrain Newark is a 1.9-mile (3 km) monorail system connecting Newark's three terminals to commuter and intercity trains running on the Northeast Corridor rail line.

Commuter rail

Grand Central Terminal is the second-busiest rail station in the country.
Main articles: Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, and New Jersey Transit Rail Operations

New York City's commuter rail system is the most extensive in the United States, with about 250 stations and 20 rail lines serving more than 150 million commuters annually in the tri-state region.[29] Commuter rail service from the suburbs is operated by two agencies. The MTA operates the Long Island Rail Road on Long Island and the Metro-North Railroad in the Hudson Valley and Connecticut. New Jersey Transit operates the rail network on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. These rail systems converge at the two busiest train stations in the United States, Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal, both in Manhattan.

Intercity rail

See also: Northeast Corridor and Empire Corridor

While rail freight transportation in New York City and Long Island has atrophied (most freight activity takes place in northern New Jersey), the city has more frequent passenger rail service (intercity and commuter) than anywhere else in the nation. Intercity service is provided by Amtrak. Fifty-four trains run each day on the busiest route, New York to Philadelphia. For trips of less than 500 miles (800 km) to other Northeastern cities, Amtrak is often cheaper and faster than air travel. Amtrak accounts for 47% of all non-automobile intercity trips between New York and Washington, D.C. and about 14% of all intercity trips (including those by automobile) between those cities.[30] Amtrak's high-speed Acela trains run from New York to Boston and Washington, D.C. using tilting technology and fast electric locomotives. New York City's Penn Station is the busiest Amtrak station in the United States by annual boardings. In 2004 it saw 4.4 million passenger boardings, more than double the next busiest station, Union Station in Washington, D.C.[31] Overnight trains connect New York City with Chicago (where numerous connections are available to the west coast services), Atlanta, New Orleans, and Miami. There are two daily trains to Miami, while another train provides daytime service to Savannah. Chicago is connected with New York City by two trains: one which runs daily via Upstate New York and Cleveland, while another runs three times a week on a longer route via Cincinnati. Major destinations with frequent service include Albany, Baltimore, Boston, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Providence, and Washington, D.C.. There are also daily trains to Toronto and Montreal in Canada.

A lineup of brand-new MCI D4500 coaches for MTA is seen at the LaGuardia Bus Depot in Queens.

Buses

Main article: MTA Regional Bus Operations
See also: Select Bus Service

New York City's bus network is extensive, with over 5,900 buses carrying about 2.01 million passengers every day for 24 hours on more than 200 local routes and 30 express routes.[32] Buses owned by MTA account for 80% of the city's surface mass transit.[5] New York City has the largest clean-air diesel-hybrid and compressed natural gas bus fleet in the United States.[32]

Local bus routes are labeled with a number and a prefix identifying the primary borough (B for Brooklyn, Bx for the Bronx, M for Manhattan, Q for Queens, and S for Staten Island). Express bus routes operated under MTA New York City Bus use the letter X rather than a borough label. Express bus routes operated under MTA Bus (formerly controlled by the NYC Department of Transportation) use a two-borough system with an M at the end (i.e., BM, BxM, or QM).

The Port Authority Bus Terminal, near Times Square, is the busiest bus station in the United States and the main gateway for interstate buses into New York City. The terminal serves both commuter routes, mainly operated by New Jersey Transit, and national routes operated by companies such as Greyhound and Peter Pan.[33] Two discount services, BoltBus and Megabus announced discount intercity coach services to begin in late March 2008.[34]

Two private, for-profit bus companies, Hampton Jitney and Hampton Luxury Liner, operate 7-day-a-week, year-round service from points on the east side of Manhattan to the villages and hamlets of Long Island's east end, best known as the Hamptons, Montauk, and the North Fork.

The larger of the two companies, Hampton Jitney, also runs limited service to and from Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. These bus companies owe their prosperity in part to the very poor services provided to this region by the Long Island Rail Road.

Another private, for-profit bus company, Tripper Bus, offers commuter service from New York City to Washington, D.C. suburbs of Arlington, Virginia and Bethesda, Maryland. [35] [36]

Intercity bus stations

Intercity bus operators use the following stations:

Borough Major terminals
Manhattan
Queens

Ferries

The Staten Island Ferry at the South Ferry terminal building in Lower Manhattan.

The busiest ferry in the United States is the Staten Island Ferry, which annually carries over 19 million passengers on the 5.2 mile (8.4 km) run between St. George Ferry Terminal and South Ferry. Service is provided 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and takes approximately 25 minutes each way. Each day eight boats transport almost 65,000 passengers during 104 boat trips. Over 33,000 trips are made annually.[38] The Ferry has remained free of charge since 1997. Vehicles have not been allowed on the Ferry since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, though bicycles are permitted on the lower level at no cost. The ferry ride is a favorite of tourists as it provides excellent views of the Lower Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty.

Since the 1980s ferry service on the Hudson River and East River has been restored and significantly expanded providing regular service to points in Manhattan, mostly below 42nd Street. Pier 11 at Wall Street, East 34th Street Ferry Landing, West Midtown Ferry Terminal and Battery Park City Ferry Terminal are major embarkation points. The terminals are run in public-private partnership with privately owned carriers. Under the NY Waterway logo routes are run to Hoboken Terminal, Weehawken Port Imperial, Edgewater Landing, and Paulus Hook Ferry Terminal as well as other ferry slips along the west bank of the Hudson in New Jersey. Its East River shuttles between Wall Street and East 34th Street call at four slips in Brooklyn and Queens. It also operates routes to the Raritan Bayshore, as does SeaStreak.

SeaStreak also runs weekday morning and afternoon/evening service between East 34th Street and Pier 11 in Manhattan and Rockaway Park, Queens, with a stop at Brooklyn Army Terminal. The service began in late 2012 in the wake of massive subway infrastructure damage and service disruptions in Queens and Brooklyn from Hurricane Sandy, and was originally intended only as a temporary transportation alternative until subway service was restored, but it proved to be popular and has been extended several times since then. New York Water Taxi makes an East River crossing to Red Hook. Liberty Water Taxi travels between BPC Ferry Terminal and Liberty State Park in Jersey City stopping at Paulus Hook. The companies also run seasonal excursions, notably to the Yankee Stadium and Gateway National Recreation Area beaches.

Additionally, there is year-round ferry service to Ellis Island and Liberty Island[39] and seasonal service to Governor's Island.[40][41] Circle Line Downtown[42] and Circle Line Sightseeing[43] operate tourist routes into the Upper New York Bay or circumnavigate Manhattan.

Roads and expressways

Despite New York's reliance on public transit, roads are a defining feature of the city. Manhattan's street grid plan greatly influenced the city's physical development. Several of the city's streets and avenues, like Broadway, Wall Street and Madison Avenue are also used as shorthand or metonym in American vernacular for national industries located there: theater, finance, and advertising, respectively.

In Manhattan, there are twelve numbered avenues that run parallel to the Hudson River, and 220 numbered streets that run perpendicular to the river.

An advanced convergence indexing road traffic monitoring system was installed in New York City for testing purposes in May 2008.

See also: Geography and environment of New York City
The Brooklyn Bridge, one of New York's most recognizable structures.

Bridges and tunnels

Main article: Bridges and tunnels in New York City

With its Gothic-revival double-arched stone towers and diagonal suspension wires, the Brooklyn Bridge is one of the city's most recognized architectural structures, depicted by artists such as Hart Crane and Georgia O'Keeffe. The Brooklyn Bridge's main span is 1,596 feet 6 inches (486.61 m), and was the longest in the world when it was completed. The Williamsburg Bridge and Manhattan Bridge are the two others in the trio of architecturally notable East River crossings. The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, which links Manhattan and Queens, is an important piece of cantilever bridge design. The borough of Staten Island is connected to Brooklyn through the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The George Washington Bridge, spanning the Hudson River between New York City and Fort Lee, New Jersey, is the world's busiest bridge in terms of vehicular traffic.[44][45]

New York has historically been a pioneer in tunnel construction. Most carry rail lines, but there are four exceptions. The Lincoln Tunnel, which carries 120,000 vehicles per day under the Hudson River between New Jersey and Manhattan, is the world's busiest vehicular tunnel. The Holland Tunnel, also under the Hudson River, was the first mechanically ventilated vehicular tunnel in the world and is considered a National Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Two other notable tunnels connect Manhattan to other places; one is the Queens Midtown Tunnel, and the other is the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel. At 9,117 feet (2,779 m), the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel (formerly the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel) is the longest underwater tunnel in North America.

The Queens Midtown Tunnel is the start of the Long Island Expressway.

Expressways

A less favored alternative to commuting by rail and boat is the New York region's expressway network, designed by Robert Moses. The city's extensive network of expressways includes four primary Interstate Highways: Interstate 78, Interstate 80, Interstate 87 and Interstate 95. Interstate 78 and Interstate 87, which have, respectively, their eastern and southern termini in the city, as well as Interstate 95 enter the city limits, while Interstate 80's eastern terminus is in Teaneck, New Jersey. I-278 and I-287 each serve as a partial beltway around the city; Interstate 278 in Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, and Interstate 287 in White Plains, Rockland County, and Northern New Jersey. I-495 begins at the Queens Midtown Tunnel as the Queens-Midtown Expressway, becomes the Horace Harding Expressway between Queens Blvd and the Nassau County limits and finally becomes the Long Island Expressway into the Long Island suburbs. The 'LIE' moniker is commonly used by denizens of the city to describe the entire length of highway.

New York's limited-access parkways, another Moses Project, are frequently congested as well, despite being designed from the outset to only carry cars, as opposed to commercial trucks or buses. The FDR Drive (originally known as the East River Drive) and Harlem River Drive are two such routes that run along the eastern edge of Manhattan. The Henry Hudson Parkway, the Bronx River Parkway and the Hutchinson River Parkway link the Bronx to nearby Westchester County and its parkways; the Grand Central Parkway and Belt Parkway provide similar functions for Long Island's parkway system.

Rush hour in Manhattan.

Private automobiles

The city's traffic lights are controlled from a Department of Transportation center in Long Island City, with frequent adjustments to alleviate the city's chronic congestion.[46]

Around 48% of New Yorkers own cars, yet fewer than 30% use them to commute to work, most finding public transportation cheaper and more convenient for that purpose, due in large part to traffic congestion which also slows buses. To ease traffic, the Mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg, in 2007 proposed congestion pricing for motor vehicles entering Manhattan's business district from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. However, this proposal was defeated when Sheldon Silver, Speaker of the New York State Assembly, announced that the bill would not come up for a vote in his chamber.

Congestion pricing

Main article: Congestion pricing in New York City

Congestion pricing in New York City was a proposed traffic congestion fee for vehicles traveling into or within lower and midtown Manhattan. The congestion pricing charge was one component of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to improve the city's future environmental sustainability while planning for population growth, entitled PlaNYC 2030: A Greener, Greater New York.[47] However, it was not approved as it was never put to a vote on the Assembly.[48]

Yellow cabs in Downtown Manhattan.
A boro taxi dropped passengers off inside the "yellow zone" in Midtown Manhattan. It is not allowed to pick up new passengers in the yellow zone.[49]

Taxis

Main article: New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission

There are 13,237 taxis operating in New York City, not including over 40,000 other for-hire vehicles.[50] Their distinctive yellow paint has made them New York icons.

Taxicabs are operated by private companies and licensed by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission. "Medallion taxis", the familiar yellow cabs, are historically the only vehicles in the city permitted to pick up passengers in response to a street hail. In 2013, a new type of street hailed livery vehicles called "boro taxis" in "apple green" color are permitted to pick up passengers in the outer boroughs and the northern part of Manhattan.[49] A cab’s availability is indicated by the lights on the top of the car. When just the center light showing the medallion number is lit, the cab is empty and available. When no lights are lit, the cab is occupied by passengers. When the off-duty light is lit, the cab is off-duty.

Fares begin at US$3.00 and increase based on the distance traveled and time spent in slow traffic. The passenger also must pay for tolls incurred during the ride.[51] The average cab fare in 2000 was US$6.00; over US$1 billion in fares were paid that year in total.[52]

241 million passengers rode in New York taxis in 1999. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, of the 42,000 cabbies in New York, 82% are foreign born: 23% from the Caribbean (the Dominican Republic and Haiti), and 20% from South Asia (India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh).[53]

In 2005, New York introduced incentives to replace its current yellow cabs with electric hybrid vehicles[54] then in May 2007, New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, proposed a five-year plan to switch New York City's taxicabs to more fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles as part of an agenda for New York City to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as surging fuel costs.[55] In 2010, Nissan won a contract to provide the New York with a design based on their NV200 minivan model.

A pedicab at rest in Manhattan.

Pedicabs, pedestrians, and bicycles

People in crosswalks in New York City.
Bikes and a cab.

Cycling in New York City is a rapidly growing mode of transport. In 2009, an estimated 200,000 city residents bicycle on a typical day,[56] and make 655,000 trips each day, greater than the number of the ten most popular bus routes in the city.[57] The City Department of Transportation estimates there are an additional two in-line skaters for every cyclist in New York. The city has 420 miles (680 km) of bike lanes (as of 2005) including the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway and has in recent years expanded separated bike lanes on major thoroughfares and on bridges across the East River. As part of PlaNYC 2030, bike lanes will be added at a rate of about 100 miles per year until 2010, and 1,800 miles (2,900 km) should be completed by 2030.

The city annually hosts the largest recreational cycling event in the United States, the Five Boro Bike Tour, in which 30,000 cyclists ride 42 miles (68 km) through the city's boroughs.

More than 500 people annually work as bicycle rickshaw, or pedicab, drivers, who in 2005 handled one million passengers.[58] The City Council voted twice, including an override of Mayor Bloomberg's veto due to the market cap, in 2007 to license pedicab owners and drivers and allow only 325 pedicab licenses.[59] Neither the limit on pedicabs nor the law itself went into effect due to a successful New York City Pedicab Owners' Association lawsuit over permit issuance.[60] Ultimately, 943 pedicab business owners permits were issued in November 2009 after a second law was passed to address shortcomings of the 2007 law.[61] Today, pedicabs meet market demand in midtown for both ecological transport as well as quick trips within the central business district during afternoon rush hours when motor traffic moves cross town at an average speed of 4.5 miles per hour.

Walk and bicycle modes of travel account for 21% of all modes for trips in the city; nationally the rate for metro regions is about 8%.[62] In 2000 New York had the largest number of walking commuters among large American cities in both total number and as a proportion of all commuters: 517,290, or 5.6%.[63] By way of comparison, the next city with the largest proportion of walking commuters, Boston, had 119,294 commuter pedestrians, amounting to 4.1% of that city's commuters.[63]

Citibank sponsored the introduction of 6,000 public bicycles for the city's bike-share project in the summer of 2013 (with another 4,000 planned).[64] Research conducted by Quinnipiac University showed that a majority of New Yorkers support the initiative.[65]

Dollar vans

Passengers at the ticket window of the now-defunct Chinatown bus company Fung Wah Bus.

New York City has many forms of semi-formal and informal public transportation, including "dollar vans", or "jitneys." Dollar vans serve major areas in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx that lack adequate subway service. In 2006, the New York City Council began debate on greater industry regulation, including requiring all dollar vans to be painted in a specific color to make them easier to recognize, similar to the public light buses in Hong Kong.[66] The vans pick up and drop off anywhere along a route, and payment is made at the end of a trip.

Similar to dollar vans, Chinese vans serve predominantly Chinese communities in Chinatown; Flushing; Sunset Park; Elmhurst; Bensonhurst and Homecrest.

Jitney buses also provide frequent, essential transportation to parts of Hudson and Bergen Counties in New Jersey.[67] Of particular note is the frequent Interstate express service offered along NJ Route 4 between the George Washington Bridge Terminal and Paterson, NJ provided by Spanish Transportation.

Highly competitive Chinatown bus lines operate routes from New York City's Chinatowns to other Chinatowns in the Northeast, with frequent service to major cities like Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. These companies use full-size coaches and offer fares much lower than traditional carriers like Greyhound and Coach USA, who in turn have gone after the Chinatown carriers by offering online fares as low as $1 on BoltBus, NeOn, and Megabus services.

Roosevelt Island Tramway over the East River.

Aerial tramway

Main article: Roosevelt Island Tramway

Built in 1976 to shuttle island residents to Midtown, the Roosevelt Island Tramway was originally intended to be a temporary commuter link for use until a subway station was established for the island. However, when the subway finally connected to Roosevelt Island in 1989, the tram was too popular to discontinue use.

The Tramway is operated by the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC). Each cable car has a capacity of 125 passengers. Travel time from Roosevelt Island to Manhattan is just under five minutes and the fare is the same as a subway ride.

In 2006, service was suspended on the tramway for six months after a service malfunction that required all passengers to be evacuated.

Port infrastructure

Airports

Main article: Aviation in the New York metropolitan area
An Air India 747 arrives at JFK, with El Al Israel and Swiss International jets at Terminal 4. JFK is the largest entry point for international arrivals to the United States.

New York City is the top international air passenger gateway to the United States.[68] New York is the busiest air gateway in the nation.[69] In 2011 more than 104 million passengers used the major airports serving the city,[70][71] John F. Kennedy International (also known as JFK), Newark Liberty International, and LaGuardia. Teterboro serves as a primary general aviation airport. JFK and Newark both connect to regional rail systems by a light rail service.[72]

JFK and Newark serve long-haul domestic and international flights. The two airports' outbound international travel accounted for about a quarter of all U.S. travelers who went overseas in 2004.[73] LaGuardia caters to short-haul and domestic destinations.

JFK is the major entry point for international arrivals in the United States and is the largest international air freight gateway in the nation by value of shipments.[74] About 100 airlines from more than 50 countries operate direct flights to JFK. The JFK-London Heathrow route is the leading U.S. international airport pair.[75] The airport is located along Jamaica Bay near Howard Beach, Queens, about 12 miles (19 km) east of downtown Manhattan.

Newark was the first major airport serving New York City and is the fifth busiest international air gateway to the United States.[68] Amelia Earhart dedicated the Newark Airport Administration Building in 1935, which was North America's first commercial airline terminal. In 2003, Newark became the terminus of the world's longest non-stop scheduled airline route, Continental's service to Hong Kong. In 2004, Singapore Airlines broke Continental's record by starting direct 18-hour flights from Newark to Singapore. The airport is located in Newark, New Jersey, about 12 miles (19 km) west of downtown Manhattan.

LaGuardia, the smallest of New York's primary airports, handles domestic flights. It is named for Fiorello H. LaGuardia, the city's great Depression-era mayor known as a reformist and strong supporter of the New Deal. A perimeter rule prohibits incoming and outgoing flights that exceed 1,500 miles (2,400 km) except on Saturdays, when the ban is lifted, and to Denver, which has a grandfathered exemption. As a result, most transcontinental and international flights use JFK and Newark.[76] The airport is located in northern Queens about 6 miles (9.7 km) from downtown Manhattan.

Manhattan has three public heliports, used mostly by business travelers. A regularly scheduled helicopter service operates flights to JFK Airport from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport, located at the eastern end of Wall Street. There are also the East 34th Street Heliport and the West 30th Street Heliport

The Queen Mary 2, the world's second largest passenger ship and largest ocean liner, steams out of New York on a transatlantic voyage.

Seaport

The Port of New York and New Jersey, with its natural advantages of deep water channels and protection from the Atlantic Ocean, has historically been one of the most important ports in the United States, and is now the third busiest in the United States behind Los Angeles and Long Beach, California in volume of cargo. In 2011, more than 34 million tons of oceanborne general cargo moved through the port. Bulk cargo represented another 52 million tons per year. Some 367,000 vehicles were imported and 284,000 were exported.[77] In 2005 more than 5,300 ships delivered to the port goods that went to 35% of the U.S. population.[78] The port is experiencing rapid growth. Shipments increased 5.2% in 2011. There are three cargo terminals on the New York City side of the harbor, including the Howland Hook Marine Terminal on Staten Island, and the combined Red Hook Container Terminal/Brooklyn Marine Terminal. Several additional larger cargo terminals and a passenger terminal are on the New Jersey side.

A lightly loaded Post-Panamax container vessel transits the north end of the Anchorage Channel.

Originally focused on Brooklyn's waterfront, especially at the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park, most container ship cargo operations have shifted to the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal on Newark Bay. The terminal, operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, is the largest port complex on the East Coast, with 4.3 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containerized cargo, which accounts for 61% of the North Atlantic container market. $208 billion of cargo passed through the Port of New York and New Jersey in 2011. The top five trading partners at the port are China, India, Italy, Germany, and Brazil.[77]

The New York Harbor is also a major hub for passenger ships. More than half a million people depart annually from Manhattan's New York Passenger Ship Terminal on the Hudson River, accounting for five percent of the worldwide cruise industry and employing 21,000 residents in the city. The Queen Mary 2, the world's second largest passenger ship and one of the few traditional ocean liners still in service, was designed specifically to fit under the Verrazano Bridge, itself the longest suspension bridge in the United States. The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal is her regular port of call for transatlantic runs from Southampton, England. Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne is the third passenger terminal servicing the city.

Water quality in the New York Harbor improved dramatically in the late 20th century. New Yorkers regularly kayak and sail in the harbor, which has become a major recreational site for the city.

Future and proposed projects

Boring machine for the new East Side Access tunnel

Several proposals for expanding the New York City transit system are in various stages of discussion, planning, or initial funding. Some proposals will compete with others for available funding:

See also

References

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Further reading

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