» Congestion / Traffic Pricing

Making NYC Traffic Better
February 21, 2013

NYC TrafficEvery day, 70,000 vehicles travel in and out of NYC’s Manhattan. Add pedestrians and bicyclists to all these regular cars, delivery trucks, and emergency vehicles, and you get quite a mess of NYC traffic.

So the NYC Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) got together with Transcore and a few other companies to create an Active Traffic Management System to improve NYC traffic. Now dubbed ‘Midtown in Motion’, this is a broad network of 100 microwave sensors, 32 traffic video cameras and E-ZPass readers initially installed at 23 intersections in NYC midtown. These devices measure traffic speeds covering a 110-block area from 2nd – 6th Aves & 42nd – 57th Sts in an effort to get NYC traffic moving faster by adjusting Midtown traffic signal patterns, unplugging bottlenecks and smoothing the flow of traffic.

Phase I resulted in an overall 10% improvement in travel times on Read more…

Filed under: Congestion / Traffic Pricing,Taxis,Transportation News — Tags: , , , , , — mtohn @ 8:55 am
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NYC Gridlock Alert Days 2012
November 29, 2012

NYC traffic during the November and December holiday season can be brutal. There are certain days when the NYC traffic is at an all-time high, and you are advised to use NYC subways and buses on these NYC Gridlock Alert days:

  • Friday, December 7th, 2012
  • Thursday, December 13th, 2012
  • Friday, December 14th, 2012
  • Wednesday, December 19th, 2012
  • Thursday, December 20th, 2012
  • Friday, December 21st, 2012

During this holiday season, NYC Department of Transportation will again implement the Holiday Traffic Mitigation Plan. The Holiday Traffic Plan was developed in coordination with other agencies and includes nine NYC Gridlock Alert Days, as well as right turn restrictions and temporary adjustments to parking regulations at key locations in Midtown Manhattan. You might also find some lanes on North-South Avenues either blocked or not letting you change lanes. Good luck!

You can also expect NYC parking garage rates to be a bit higher during events such as the Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting Ceremony.

Filed under: Buses,Congestion / Traffic Pricing,Parking & Traffic Tickets,Rockefeller Centre Tree Lighting,Subways — Tags: , , — mtohn @ 10:31 am
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NYC is Watching You
July 9, 2012
NYC Midtown in Motion traffic congestion diagram

NYC Midtown in Motion real-time information

Big Brother just got bigger. Remember back in July 2011 when NYC Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) installed 100 microwave sensors, 32 traffic video cameras and E-ZPass readers at 23 intersections to measure traffic speeds covering a 110-block area from 2nd – 6th Aves & 42nd – 57th Sts to fix NYC traffic? What is now being referred to as the ‘first phase’ resulted in an overall 10% improvement in travel times on all the Aves (based on E-ZPass readers and taxi GPS data), so DOT just announced Phase II — which expands the ‘Midtown in Motion’ area to Midtown from 1st – 9th Aves and 42nd – 57th Sts.

Midtown in Motion uses all these sensors, NYC traffic cameras and E-ZPass reader data to adjust Midtown traffic signal patterns, unplug bottlenecks and smooth the flow of traffic.

The Phase II area will now cover 270 square blocks and will include an additional 110 microwave sensors, 24 traffic video cameras, and 36 E-ZPass readers. It will be fully operational this September.

Something to Think About: We’re not sure how we feel about NYC being able to read the E-ZPass tags we keep in our cars. Is NYC using the data in aggregate, or can the readers identify individual E-ZPass tags and vehicles?

Phase I was funded by a $1.2 million grant from the US Department of Transportation’s Read more…

Filed under: Congestion / Traffic Pricing,Driving & Traffic News,Driving in Times Square,E-Z Pass,Getting Around NYC — Tags: , , , , — mtohn @ 10:21 am
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NYC to Outsource Parking Meters?
May 25, 2012

NYC parking meterFollowing in the footsteps of Chicago, Indianapolis, Sacramento, Harrisburg PA, and other cities, NYC is considering leasing NYC parking meters to an outside company. This private company would ideally leverage current technology to:

  • reduce congestion and get you to your parking spot faster using real-time NYC street parking occupancy data from companies like Streetline,
  • bring in more revenue with remote payment options via telephone, text, or online.

What would the NYC government still do?

Filed under: Congestion / Traffic Pricing,NYC Street Parking,Parking News — Tags: , , , — mtohn @ 10:59 am
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Gridlock Sam: Fixing NYC Traffic
April 30, 2012

We adore Sam Schwartz, aka ‘Gridlock Sam’. He’s a one man army dedicated to making NYC driving and traveling a pleasant experience, which means less traffic, happy drivers who don’t honk the horn, and a fantastic public transportation system that runs on time and gets you where you want to go.

How is he doing it? All on his own time, this owner of an internationally recognized transportation and engineer firm has designed a plan to bring peace to the roads and underground of NYC. The plan includes:

  • $5 toll on all bridges and tunnels coming into Manhattan below 60th St to spread out the congestion on the currently free bridges — Williamsburg Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and Queensboro/59th St Bridge — and the currently tolled crossings — Queens Midtown Tunnel, Brooklyn Battery Tunnel,
  • $5 charge to enter Manhattan below 60th St if you haven’t used any of the tolled crossings, and
  • $1 surcharge on all taxi trips below 60th St.

During his career as NYC’s Traffic Commissioner, Sam saw it all. Read more about Sam’s career and his love for NYC.

Filed under: Congestion / Traffic Pricing,Driving & Traffic News,Taxis — Tags: , , , , , , , , — mtohn @ 10:51 am
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NYC Bridge & Toll Pricing Plan
March 27, 2012
NYC Bridge & Tunnel Toll Plan, Sam Schwartz

Courtesy: Wall St Journal

Sam Schwartz, aka ‘Gridlock Sam’, has been working on a new plan to ease NYC’s traffic and congestion. This isn’t the Congestion Pricing Plan from 2008. This plan is designed to encourage public transportation where it’s available by charging vehicles at congested areas, and not charge where there isn’t good public transportation. Here are the highlights of the plan:

  • Queensboro Bridge/59th St Bridge: No toll into Manhattan becomes $7 toll to reduce the congestion on the bridge. Read more…
Filed under: Bicycles,Congestion / Traffic Pricing,Driving & Traffic News — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — mtohn @ 10:44 am
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NYC 2nd Most Congested City
November 2, 2011

The Annual Urban Mobility Report conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute is out. The news isn’t good.

  • Average commuters endured 34 hours of delay in 2010. This is 14 hours more than in 1982, nearly 30 years ago.
  • Congestion costs the US more than $100 million, or about $750 for every commuter in the U.S.
  • “Rush Hour” is six hours of not rushing anywhere.
  • Congestion isn’t happening only at Rush Hour. About 40% of delays are happening during midday and overnight.

What are the Most Congested Cities in the U.S.?

1)   Los Angeles is still the most congested U.S. city, with nearly 522,000 cumulative hours of travel delay.
2)   NYC, with 465,000 hours of travel delay. That’s a lot of horn honking and cranky drivers. Read more…

Filed under: Congestion / Traffic Pricing,NYC Driving,Transportation News — Tags: , , , — mtohn @ 12:55 pm
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Congestion Pricing Update 2011
September 28, 2011

Remember all the hullabaloo about Congestion Pricing a few years ago? It was Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal to charge vehicles to enter Manhattan below 60th Street as an effort to reduce congestion from NYC traffic. It got voted down, and now it’s back.

There will be 22 entry points where vehicles will pay the NYC Congestion Pricing Toll.

What Will the Congestion Pricing Toll Plan Be?

The Rate is Unknown at this time.

Congestion Pricing Tolls would be in effect 24/7. Peak rates from 6am – 6pm. Lower rates on weekends and overnight.

NYC Taxis don’t have to pay a toll. But passengers will pay a $1 toll per trip. Read more…

Filed under: Congestion / Traffic Pricing,Driving & Traffic News,Parking & Driving Advice — Tags: , , , , , , , — mtohn @ 12:44 pm
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NYC vs LA Traffic
April 21, 2011

NYC Traffic, 5th AvenueNew Yorkers complain about it. LA folks say it’s the worst in the country. What’s so bad? TRAFFIC!

Anyone who has been driving in NYC knows that NYC traffic is pretty bad. In fact, NYC traffic was ranked as the 2nd worst in the country in both 2009 and 2010. When you compare NYC traffic to LA traffic, NYC was at 99% of LA’s highest level of congestion for 2010. NYC did win top honors for the ‘worst traffic corridor in the country’, whic his I-95 Southbound (New England Thruway, Bruckner/Cross Bronx Expressway).

If you live in one of the top 10 cities for congestion, you’re probably spending about one month a year just sitting in traffic.

The full article is from Gothamist and here’s the full research study, the 2010 National Traffic Scorecard.

Filed under: Congestion / Traffic Pricing,NYC Driving — Tags: , , , — mtohn @ 8:32 am
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Transit vs. Traffic for NYers
March 17, 2011

According to a March poll from the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, New Yorkers are more concerned with transportation than NYC traffic and congestion.  They care more about the NYC buses and NYC subways than adding or taking away traffic lanes for things like fast-service buses.

Granted, only 5% of the registered voters surveyed targeted transportation as the most important issue for NYC, after education and the economy. Of that 5%, two-thirds cited ‘quality mass transit’ as the top issue, and 20% were concerned with traffic congestion.

Turns out that 54% of NYC households don’t have a vehicle, so this all makes sense.

Read the full article from Streetsblog.

Filed under: Buses,Congestion / Traffic Pricing,Getting Around NYC,NYC Driving,Subways,Taxis — Tags: , , , , — mtohn @ 6:25 pm
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