A CarFree Manhattan Megan Small The Current Situation

A Car-Free Manhattan Megan Small

The Current Situation: ▫ Almost 800, 000 cars enter Manhattan per day ▫ 2, 450 acres of roadway ▪ 1, 000 acres of garages, gas stations, carwashes, dealerships, repair shops Visualization

The Current Situation: ▫ 76. 6% of Manhattan households are car-free ▪ Car-ownership is increasing ▫ Daily public transport usage is falling

The Current Situation: “There is three times more roadway for cars on Manhattan as there is for bikes. There’s more road for cars than there is sidewalk for pedestrians. ” - PAU

What’s the problem? Current transportation system is unsafe, inefficient, unhealthy & impractical

What’s the Problem? ▫ Unsafe! ▪ 2, 877 involved in accidents (9/2020) ▪ ~10 die per month in accidents

What’s the Problem? ▫ Impractical! ▪ Sidewalks & bike lanes aren’t always functional ▪ Sidewalk space often occupied by trash/litter

What’s the Problem? ▫ Unhealthy! ▪ For people & planet ▫ Vehicles account for ~⅓ of polluting emissions ▫ Vehicles account for ~10% of polluting particulates

What’s the Problem? “Pollution from vehicles is concentrated in New York City, which has the highest PM 2. 5 concentration of any city in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic” - Union of Concerned Scientists

What’s the Problem? ▫ Inefficient! ▪ Slow ▪ Avg traffic speed is ~7 mph ▪ Wasteful ▪ Cars take up space even when not in use

What’s the solution? Ban cars in Manhattan!

The Solution: A Car-Free Manhattan ▫ BAN privately-owned passenger cars ▪ KEEP delivery trucks, emergency vehicles, taxis, rideshares, and public transportation vehicles like buses

The Solution: A Car-Free Manhattan ▫ Increase reliance on personal transit (bikes, scooters) & public transportation (trains, buses) ▫ Adjust roadways to reflect ideal usage of types of vehicles

The Solution: A Car-Free Manhattan ● Pedestrian space (tan) ● Designated bike lanes (green) ● Designated car lanes (grey) ● Designated bus lanes (red) Via Practice for Architecture and Urbanism

The Solution: A Car-Free Manhattan □ Residential streets ■ West 45 th Street Types of roadways would vary depending on needs of different areas □ Bridges ■ Manhattan Bridge □ Busy intersections ■ Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd at 125 th St □ Riverfront ■ FDR Drive

The Benefits ▫ Improve safety of pedestrians & accessibility of personal transportation ▪ Parked cars no longer pose a threat to designated cyclists and pedestrians ▪ Reduced traffic accidents

The Benefits □ Give New Yorkers more (GREEN) space ■ Only essential roadways

The Benefits □ Give New Yorkers more (GREEN) space ■ Only essential roadways

The Benefits “With the right features, BRT is able to avoid the causes of delay that typically slow regular bus services, like being stuck in traffic and queuing to pay on board. ” - Institute for Transportation & Development Policy Guangzhou, China

The Benefits ▫ Availability for improved public transportation like Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) ▪ Fast, efficient buses that operate in bus-only lanes ▪ Proven effective in other international cities Guangzhou, China

The Benefits □ Improved air quality ■ Eliminating roadway congestion reduces air pollution ■ Less environmental damage ■ Reduces health risks for residents (primarily immigrants & BIPOC)

The Benefits

The Benefits ▫ Increased traffic speed ▪ Eliminating passenger cars reduces Manhattan traffic by 60%, other NYC traffic by 8%

The Drawbacks ▫ Change in routine may inconvenience regular drivers ▪ BUT drivers only account for 12% of daily commuters ▪ AND 80% of commuters already use public transportation, walk, bike, etc

The Drawbacks ▫ Slow to implement ▪ Appropriately restructuring roads is labor-intensive & expensive ▪ Will take time to accumulate necessary resources & public approval ▪ BUT public approval has been proven to exceed expectations during small-scale implementations

The Drawbacks ▫ Insufficient support ▪ Current public transportation system cannot support car-less city ▪ Already struggles to accommodate daily riders (late trains & buses, delays, broken infrastructure, etc)

So What? ▫ An entirely car-free city is ambitious ▪ ▫ BUT experimental partially car-free areas already exist in San Francisco, Madrid, Oslo In 2019, Manhattan successfully banned passenger vehicles from areas south of 14 th street ▪ Speed of public transport (buses) increased dramatically ▪ High commuter satisfaction rating

So What?

So What? ▫ Gradual implementation will allow for New Yorkers to experience the benefits without overwhelming the current infrastructure “Prioritize people over traffic. ” - PAU

Works Cited Chakrabarti, Vishaan. “N. Y. C. (Not Your Car). ” Practice for Architecture and Urbanism, July 2020, https: //pau. studio/what/1933/. Cutrufo, Joseph. “How Car-Free Is New York City? ” Mobilizing the Region: Tri-State Transportation Campaign, 21 Apr. 2017, http: //blog. tstc. org/2017/04/21/car-free-new-york-city/. De Moura, Maria Cecilia Pinto, et al. Inequitable Exposure to Air Pollution from Vehicles in New York State. Union of Concerned Scientists, June 2019, p. 7. Hu, Winnie. “Major Traffic Experiment in N. Y. C. : Cars All but Banned on Major Street. ” New York Times, 8 Aug. 2019, https: //www. nytimes. com/2019/08/08/nyregion/14 th-street-busway. html. ITDP. “What Is BRT? ” Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, https: //www. itdp. org/library/standards-andguides/the-bus-rapid-transit-standard/what-is-brt/.

Works Cited Manjoo, Farhad. “I’ve Seen a Future Without Cars, and It’s Amazing. ” New York Times, 9 July 2020, https: //www. nytimes. com/2020/07/09/opinion/sunday/ban-cars-manhattan-cities. html. Marshall, Aarian. “Downtown Manhattan Is the New Frontier of the Car-Free City. ” Wired, https: //www. wired. com/2016/08/downtown-manhattan-new-frontier-car-free-city/. Motor Vehicle Collision Report Statistics Citywide. City of New York Police Department, Sept. 2020, p. 83. Neistat, Casey. Bike Lanes by Casey Neistat. 2011. Nessen, Stephen, and Jake Offenhartz. “ 14 th Street Car Ban Kicks Off With Cranky Drivers, Joyous Bus Riders. ” City & State New York, 3 Oct. 2019, https: //www. cityandstateny. com/articles/policy/transportation/14 th-street-buswaysmooth-first-day. html.