A Snapshot of New York City Gridlock

Bruce Schaller’s new study, Battling Traffic, released this morning at a standing-room only Manhattan Institute panel discussion, digs in to the question of what New Yorkers really think about the city’s traffic congestion and the idea of using road pricing and other tools to manage it. Want to see what New York City gridlock looks like? Take a look at this remarkable map from Schaller’s study:

Evening "Rush Hour" Visualized: Average traffic speeds from 4:00 to 8:00 pm

schaller_congestion_map.jpg

Key: Average peak direction driving speeds during the evening "rush hour."

Red: Under 6 mph
Pink: 6 to 10 mph
Gray: Over 10 mph

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Today: Dueling Congestion Pricing Press Events

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State Assembly Member Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester) is releasing his report on Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s congestion pricing proposal on the steps of City Hall today at 2:00 pm. Billed as "the first thorough, independent, and fair-minded" analysis (Apparently, the Partnership for New York’s two-year study wasn’t thorough and Bruce Schaller’s massive body of research wasn’t independent […]

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Free parking, it turns out, isn’t free. A new study by transportation guru Bruce Schaller finds that free parking in Manhattan’s Central Business district is responsible for a significant amount of New York City’s staggering traffic congestion. Schaller’s new study, Congested Streets: The Skewed Economic Incentives to Drive Into Manhattan (PDF), finds that free parking […]