Right. When I took urban design this past spring, we learned about the politics and such of the failed proposals to build a highway through lower Manhattan in the '50s - '70s.
So for example, the LOMEX proposal from the '60s would have destroyed parts of Little Italy and SoHo. A lot of grassroots resistance doomed the project, not only on the basis of the communities to be demolished but also disagreement on the basic premise that the road would be a net benefit for Manhattan or even the whole of New York City.
And the Long Island Sound proposals have a long history of falling to NIMBY movements from the wealthy and powerful people living in Rye and Oyster Bay.
That’s only good if you want to go into New England. If you want to go West on I-80 or south towards Philly it would be a lot more miles & probably more net time in the car.
Well then, whoever decided to put a massive urban center on a dinky peninsula that can only be accessed by driving down a dinkier peninsula that’s home to an even denser urban center should be taken outside and shot.
Inbound trip times on all Hudson and East River crossings are now 10% to 30% faster or more than they were in January 2024.
Drivers crossing via the Holland Tunnel are experiencing the most improved daily time crossings, with a 48% reduction on average during peak morning hours.
The Williamsburg and Queensboro Bridges are both experiencing an average of 30% faster trip times.
Drivers on the Long Island Expressway, Flatbush Avenue, NJ 495 and other roads leading up to crossings have been seeing improved speeds.
“Buses are running more reliably and efficiently and more customers are choosing to take them,” said NYC Transit Senior Vice President of Buses Frank Annicaro.
The MTA said that faster traffic is improving the speeds of buses, especially on express service bus routes, which utilize Hudson and East River crossings into the zone.
Riders on express buses from Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx are saving up to 10 minutes on average travel time, the MTA said.
because they measured what they wanted to; did they measure how much worse traffic is outside of the congestion zone? I’d love to see those numbers. I bet they don’t exist because they only measured those areas that benefited what they wanted to show.
How much worse is the BQE?
How much worse is the upper level of the Koch Bridge?
How much worse is traffic over the GWB (which was already the worst of the three Hudson crossings)
BTW, you never replied to my answers is post #42, above.
Before congestion pricing, going thru Manhattan was $22.38 cheaper than going thru Brooklyn/Staten Island or Queens/GWB for anyone going on/off the Island or to the outer boroughs; that’s on top of the $14.06, $16.06, or $18.31 (depending upon time & billing method) toll for the Hudson crossing.
Depends on what you are trying to bypass - both “NYC” and “Long Island” have varying definitions. You cannot get to New Jersey from Long Island without going through the five boroughs - but you absolutely can get to NJ without going through the congestion zone or even Manhattan. There are certainly some people who go through the congestion zone and take the tunnels - but that’s going to depend a lot on where they are starting from and where their destination is in NJ. I rarely go through the congestion zone to get to NJ - it’s almost always better for me go through the Bronx and take the GW Bridge or to go through Brooklyn and Staten Island to NJ.
I used to live on LI, and while that it true the congestion pricing is practically irrelevant for getting off the island through NYC to 'merica. Most exiting LI will go through the Bronx (Inc GWB exit) or Staten Island. Going though the congestion zone ‘routes’ never made any sense as they were significantly longer and more annoying than going around. The exception would perhaps be things right outside the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, but if you regularly have to drive from LI through NYC to there you already lost the game.