New York City: Encyclopedia II - New York City - Transportation

New York City - Transportation

Unlike most of America's car-oriented urban areas, public transportation is the main form of travel for New York City residents. Data from the 2000 U.S. Census reveals that New York City is the only locality in the United States where more than half of all households do not own a car (the figure is even higher in Manhattan, over 75 percent). 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 and its suburbs.[8]

New York City - Mass transit

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the largest public transit system in North America, moves 2.4 billion people a year. The world-famous New York City Subway is a subsidiary of the MTA and is one of the oldest and one of the most extensive subway systems in the world when measured by track mileage (656 miles of mainline track). New York's subway is the world's fifth largest when measured by annual ridership (1.4 billion passenger trips in 2004). There are 734 subway stations in the network. The system connects all boroughs except Staten Island, which is served by the Staten Island Railway and is connected to Manhattan by the Staten Island Ferry, which in turn sails to an intermodal terminal in Lower Manhattan served by the 1 subway line. A second subway system operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's PATH connects Manhattan to New Jersey and Newark Liberty International Airport. New York City, along with Chicago, are the only two cities in the United States to offer 24 hour rapid transit and subway service. At one time one of the most modern systems in the world, New York's subway fell into severe disrepair in the fiscal crisis of the 1970s. After billions of dollars of reinvestment its cleanliness and on-time performance has now returned to historic levels, and ongoing multi-billion dollar projects are seeing the upgrading of signalling systems, refurbishment of stations, construction of new tunnels and introduction of sleek computerized subway cars.

In addition to their comprehensive subway network, New Yorkers rely on hundreds of bus lines operated by the MTA. The MTA runs the largest fleet of electric-diesel hybrid buses in North America. Because of the city's density and extensive mass transit system, more than half of city residents do not own cars or even driver's licenses.

On December 20, 2005, the local Transit Workers Union (TWU) voted to go on an illegal strike, costing New York City an estimated US$300 million in lost revenue per day. The TWU and MTA had failed to negotiate a new contract for the 33,700 MTA employees. On December 23, facing mounting public pressure, TWU voted to break the strike and return to their job without a new contract. The parent TWU did not support the local branch in the strike.

Responsibility for providing public transportation falls to a variety of government agencies and private corporations. Amtrak provides long-distance rail service. Commuter rail networks are operated by New Jersey Transit, the MTA (serving Long Island, Connecticut and regions in New York State north of the city as the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad), and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which also operates regional bus terminals. These rail systems terminate at the two busiest rail stations in the United States, Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal, both in Manhattan.

New York City - Airports

The Port Authority also owns and operates four airports in the New York metropolitan area. Two are in New York City, John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in Jamaica, Queens and La Guardia Airport in Flushing, Queens. The other two, Newark Liberty International Airport and Teterboro Airport are in New Jersey. JFK is the major entry point for international arrivals in the United States and handles the largest amount of air cargo in North America. La Guardia handles domestic flights, while Newark handles both international and domestic; Teterboro is New York's primary general aviation airport, handling heavy business jet traffic together with cargo and medevac flights. There is also a smaller airport, Westchester County Airport, that services the northern suburbs as well as smaller scale and private air traffic from New York City (including business executives and professional sports teams). The first airport in the city was Floyd Bennett Field, now closed as an airport and today part of Gateway National Recreation Area. The Port Authority also operates the AirTrain service, a train which connects the JFK and Newark airports to local subway and rail systems.

New York City - Taxis

Over 12,000 taxicabs are operated by private companies and licensed by the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission (the TLC). There are two officially recognized car services in the city. "Medallion taxis," the familiar yellow cabs that are New York icons, are legally permitted to pick up passengers hailing them on the street. The TLC also regulates and licenses livery cars, known locally as "car services", which are legally permitted to pick up only those customers who have called the car service's dispatcher and requested a car, although most of these pick up hailing passengers as well. Car services that are independently owned, and will solicit passengers on the street, are known in New York City lingo as "Gypsy Cabs". They are often found in areas not routinely visited by regular cabs, such as northern Manhattan.

In 2005 New York introduced incentives to replace its yellow cabs, most of which are heavy gasoline-powered American sedans, with efficient hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius.

New York City - Ferries

Except for the Bronx, every borough in New York is situated on an island. Given this geography and the city's intense demand for efficient mass transit, high-speed ferries are an ideal solution. Many private ferries are run by NY Waterway, which runs several routes across the Hudson River to New Jersey. New York Water Taxi runs boats that connect Brooklyn and Manhattan, while other operators ply routes on the East River and Long Island Sound. Perhaps the best known ferry, with its bright orange livery and spectacular route across New York Harbor, is the free Staten Island Ferry between Manhattan and Staten Island. It is operated by the New York City Department of Transportation.

New York City - Highways

A less favored alternative to commuting by rail and boat is the region's outdated and congested highway network, designed by Robert Moses. The city's extensive network of parkways and expressways includes four primary Interstate Highways: I-78, I-80, I-87 (also known as the Major Deegan Expressway in the city and the New York State Thruway for points north) and I-95 (which is also the New Jersey Turnpike in that state until it crosses the Hudson River at the George Washington Bridge, when it becomes the New England Thruway, finally ending up as the Connecticut Turnpike when it enters that portion of the tri-state area). I-287 serves as a partial beltway around the city, and there are numerous three-digit Interstates of I-78 and I-95.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Transportation", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki