Bruce Schaller

Where Do Manhattan Auto Commuters Come From?

Bruce Schaller's studies continue to give New York City policymakers a much more detailed idea of who commutes into Manhattan's Central Business District each day, where they came from and what they are doing once they get there (PDF file).

By Aaron Naparstek

10:00 AM EST on December 8, 2006

Bruce Schaller’s studies continue to give New York City policymakers a much more detailed idea of who commutes into Manhattan’s Central Business District each day, where they came from and what they are doing once they get there (PDF file).

Towards that end, his new Manhattan Institute study, Battling Traffic: What New Yorkers Think About Road Pricing, offers the two maps below. The maps show the number of auto commuters and the percentage of auto commuters who drive into Manhattan’s Central Business District from specific census tracts.

So, for example, check out the Upper East Side. It is responsible for 5,000+ auto commuters into the Manhattan CBD each day, yet the vast majority of those car commuters’ neighbors — 85 percent or more — find a way to get to work without a car. In other words, the Upper East Side may be a place that is ripe for mode shift. It could be a place where one would expect to find a significant number of commuters who could be moved out of cars and onto transit, bike, ferry or foot if the proper services and incentives were offered (Though, with all of those wealthy people and black limos on the UES, the proper incentive might be helicopter service).

Number Who Commute by Auto to the Central Business District

Percent Who Commute by Auto to the Central Business District

Aaron Naparstek

Aaron Naparstek is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparstek's journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. He was also one of the original cast members of the "War on Cars" podcast. You can find more of his work on his website.