Driving In Times Square | Park It! Guides

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: E-ZPass, NYC congestion, NYC DOT, NYC Traffic, traffic camera — mtohn @ 10:21 am

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New Year’s Eve 2011

December 2, 2010

If you’re one of the millions of people coming to NYC for New Year’s Eve this year, and you’re brave enough to drive into the city, we can help you find parking.

Tip 1 – Arrive early on December 31st, or even on December 30th. Most of the streets around Times Square will start closing on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve.

Filed under: Driving in Times Square,New Year's Eve,NYC Driving,NYC Street Parking — Tags: NYC Driving, NYC garage, NYC Parking, NYC parking garage, NYC parking rate, NYC parking sign, NYC Parking Ticket, nyc parking violation, NYC Street Parking, NYC streets, NYC Traffic — mtohn @ 8:13 pm

Gridlock Alert Days 2010

These 8 days have been named 2010 NYC Gridlock Alert Days – when you can expect the city to have significant traffic and are advised NOT to drive if you really, really don’t have to.

Wednesday, November 24
Tuesday, November 30
Friday, December 10
Wednesday, December 15
Thursday, December 16
Friday, December 17
Wednesday, December 22
Thursday, December 23

Filed under: Driving in Times Square,NYC Events,Parking & Driving Advice — Tags: Gridlock Alert Days, NYC Driving, NYC Parking, Sam Schwartz — mtohn @ 7:43 pm

Central Parking-Storage $150

September 3, 2010

Can you imagine getting Storage Parking for less than $200? If you act before September 30th, you’ll be one of the lucky people who get this incredible deal at 7 garages run by Central Parking.

10-9-3_central_storage_150

Just put in a request and ask for one of the garages above.

Can’t beat this deal!

Expires September 30, 2010.

Filed under: Driving in Times Square,Monthly Parking Deals,NYC Parking,NYC Street Parking — Tags: cheap monthly parking, NYC cheap monthly parking, NYC garage, NYC monthly parking, NYC Parking, NYC parking garage, NYC parking rate, NYC West Side parking — mtohn @ 8:07 am

The Times Square Experiment

February 28, 2010

Remember back in late May 2009, when seemingly overnight the North/Southbound streets in Times Square were suddenly turned into pedestrian lounge-rooms? The streets were painted green and filled with plastic chairs and tables.

The results are in, and those newer metal chairs and tables are going to stay plus get an upgrade to permanent furniture.

Times Square - before new traffic pattern

Times Square's pedestrian area

It’s all part of the Green Light for Midtown project spearheaded by Mayor Bloomberg and implemented by the NYC DOT*, where the goals are to make the NYC streets safer and to reduce NYC traffic and congestion. For Times Square, DOT was looking to improve the NYC traffic flow on 6th & 7th Avenues and make Broadway safer for pedestrians and drivers. If you’ve been through that area, you’ve seen the new pedestrian spaces on Broadway from 42nd – 47th Streets, and also on 33rd – 35th Streets.

How do we know if it worked? DOT used GPS units in taxis to compare travel times in fall 2008 against fall 2009 and found that: Read more…

Filed under: Buses,Driving in Times Square,Getting Around NYC,NYC Driving,Subways,Taxis — Tags: 34th St, 36th St, 44th St, 45th St, 49th St, 50th St, 57th St, 6th Ave, 7th Ave, 7th AVenue, 9th Ave, Bloomberg, Broadway, Central Park South, Macy's, Midtown, New Yorkers, NYC Bus, NYC congestion, NYC DOT, NYC streets, NYC Taxi, NYC Traffic, Times Square — mtohn @ 2:57 pm

New Year’s Eve Parking NYC 2009

December 30, 2009

If you’re one of the millions of people coming to NYC for New Year’s Eve this year, and you’re brave enough to drive into the city, we can help you find parking.

Tip 1 — Arrive early on December 31st, or even on December 30th. Most of the streets around Timew Square will start closing on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve.

Free parking does exist. If you want to park on the street, read the signs. Most streets have free parking after 7pm, but around Times Square these areas will have No Parking from Thursday, December 31st at 12:00 a.m. until 1:00 a.m. on Friday, January 1st:
All cross-town streets from 33rd to 59th Street between 6th and 8th Avenue;
West side of 5th Avenue, from 37th to 52nd Streets;
West side of 6th Avenue, from 34th to 59th Streets;
East side of 6th Avenue, from 37th to 52nd Streets;
East side of 8th Avenue from 34th to 57th Streets; Read more…

Filed under: Driving in Times Square,Getting Around NYC,New Year's Eve,NYC Events,NYC Parking,NYC Street Parking — Tags: New Year's Eve 2009, NYC garage, NYC Parking, NYC parking garage, NYC parking sign, nyc parking violation, NYC Street Parking, Times Square New Year's Eve, Times Square Parking — mtohn @ 1:08 pm

Driving in Times Square

June 9, 2009

A few weeks ago Broadway was closed to vehicle traffic from 47th to 42nd Streets, and all the Broadway traffic was diverted to 7th Avenue. I didn’t quite understand how it all works, so I went over and took some photos to show you.

From 47th – 42nd Streets on 7th Avenue, here’s the deal:

1) You can drive cross-town on all streets from 47th to 42nd Street, and you can get onto 7th Avenue from any of these cross-town streets.

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