Map of the Day: Where Commuters Who Drive Are

When Mayor Bloomberg rattled off the statistic "Of the New Yorkers who work in Manhattan, only five percent commute by car" during his PlaNYC speech, we were intrigued and wondered how that number was calculated. Now, we have a 166-page PDF to delve into, as the Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability has released its technical report.

Streetsblog pointed out the cool maps that illustrate the commuters mentioned by the Mayor:

The map is broken down by census tract. Height represents the total number of single-passenger drivers and color represents the percentage of commuters who chose to drive alone to workplaces below 96th Street. A darker color means a higher percentage of single-passenger drivers and a lighter color means more people used transit, walked, carpooled or used a ferry or bike. It turns out that only 4.6% of New York City residents drive to work in the Manhattan core in single-passenger motor vehicle.

Here's another great factoid from the report: If New Yorkers owned cars at the same rate as the rest of the nation, it would take 11,000 acres, or all of Manhattan below 136th Street, just to park them end to end.

Certainly, mass transit options in or closer to Manhattan skew the statistics. That's why we also liked a series of maps that showed traffic to specific parts of the outer-boroughs, like this one that shows commutes to downtown Jamaica.

Mayor Bloomberg says congestion pricing has to happen now or else "it is unlikely to get done for a very long time." Notable critics of the plan are City Comptroller William Thompson and Representative Anthony Weiner, who are both potential candidates for mayor in 2009.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on May 1, 2007 3:21 PM

Comments [rss]

diz

To be clear about the Comptroller's exact comments so there is no distortion

Distortion is what Gothamist does best!

You seem to think that people come to Gothamist as an actual news source when really it's just a source of general confusion, bad spelling, and reports on graffiti, pets, and Columbia U.

Comptroller's Press Office

To be clear about the Comptroller's exact comments so there is no distortion, here is the statement we provided: I applaud Mayor Bloomberg for his ambitious plans to address the future needs of New York City. We must work together to meet the challenge of substantial growth and its impact on the City’s infrastructure and environment. I do have concerns about one aspect of the plan, congestion pricing, its financial impact on small businesses, and its effect on New York City residents, particularly those living outside of Manhattan. I look forward to reviewing the Mayor’s plan in greater detail and taking part in public discussion and debate in the coming months.

dizzy

I think the most amusing thing about Gothamist is that anything Jen posts mostly attracts comments concerning the apparent waste of her Ivy League education.

I agree that Gothamist generally makes me feel dumber, which is why I so rarely visit anymore, or I try to ignore Jen's posts (I couldn't resist the barely literate title of this post, though).

Murray Hillster

"Gothamist is just an attractive shovel pointed in the reader's direction."

I love that description. Not just about Gothamist, but 75% the Internet.

Bonus: No Google hits for "an attractive shovel pointed in the reader's direction"!

danycus

like reading an 8 year old's book report. i feel dumbER.

hedgehog

The diction employed, spelling and punctuation errors, etc. is why we still need real newspapers with real reporters. As much as I enjoy Gothamist and the occassional other 'ist, there's no investigative, in depth reporting here. Gothamist is just an attractive shovel pointed in the reader's direction.

adam

I think Jen does it to rile us.

BigJ

#3 is Jen Chung! She speaks!

I would have to say that it's a result of the mass transit availability. Look at the Brooklyn Navy yards all in red. The further you are from Manhattan, the darker the color.

Jen Chung

Commenter #1, feel free to email me directly with your complaints.

timbnyc

Do the difference correlerate more with mass transit availability or with wealth? If the latter, the congestion charge won't really affect intra-NYC commutes by car.

English, do you speak

Where commuters who drive are

How do you win awards for this shit? It's too bad that DCist is so much better than Gothamist, and it's too bad the tech industry keeps inflating Jen Chung's overblown ego while she keeps producing prose like that.