Over the past decade, the streets, highways, tunnels and bridges of New York City and the surrounding metropolitan region have become increasingly clogged with traffic. In recent years, business leaders have become increasingly concerned about the traffic congestion in Manhattan and the region. The regional public transit and commuter rail system cannot provide everyone with a reasonable alternative to car travel. As a result, traffic congestion has become a real threat to future economic growth in New York City.
Traffic congestion affects the cost of doing business and cost of living in the entire region. It has been estimated that business costs, lost productivity and lost revenue have contributed to over 50,000 jobs being lost every year in the New York Metropolitan Region. The greatest net losses in regional economic output are concentrated in Manhattan, New Jersey and Long Island.
The key industries of New York City are professional services, media and financial services. The operation of these industries tends to generate constant travel demands. Mobility is highly …show more content…
The strongest positive effects of traffic reduction and improvements in speed would occur in downtown Brooklyn, Long Island City, around the Williamsburg Bridge, 125th Street and the South Bronx. All these areas currently have a high level of congestion caused by primarily by through traffic to Manhattan. However, the problem remains of how to reduce the number of vehicles. The city is entirely dependent on trucks, hence limitation on the schedule or number of truck trips would cause a serious negative consequences for Manhattan. A number of public transport projects have been planned to reduce commuter traffic. These include Trans-Hudson Express commuter rail tunnel, No.7 subway line extension to Far West Side and expanded ferry