Baby we were born to ... walk
Just how slow is slow in New York City?
If there is a point to this post (and there may not be) it is that some people are very devoted to their cars, to the point where some drivers in one part of the USA put up with driving their $75,000 400-hp luxury machines at roughly the pace of a … brisk walk. Okay, maybe a slow trot: 4.8 mph. Because that is the average speed of traffic in Midtown Manhattan these days.1 From a recent study by a New York state Senator, Brad Hoylman-Sigal:
The 2024 YTD average is 4.8 mph, which is the lowest figure recorded since comparable data started being recorded, in 1971. Yup, slowest pace in half a century. You can see the effects of the pandemic, when the city emptied out and the streets cleared: we rocketed up to almost 10 mph, a speed at which human life can barely be sustained, as demonstrated by noted researchers Black, Cera, and Cross.
This helps explain why NYC leads America in use of mass transit: even a very run-down subway can outperform here. Makes you wonder if another run will be taken at congestion pricing?
Again, I have no significant point here to make beyond the obvious one as to the extremes to which people will go to get behind the wheel. And while today’s chart is all about usage, a similar conclusion can be drawn about ownership: according to the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, working with Census data, about 45% of New York City households own a car. More amazing to me, however, is the fact that about 25% of Manhattan households own a car. And this is with the hassle of ASP parking rules (moving the car periodically, to permit street cleaning) if you’re parking on the street, or paying $500 and up per month for a private spot, if you’re not.
All for the thrill of firing up the V-6, cranking up Springsteen, and hitting the open road… at 4.8 mph.
Manhattan Midtown defined as East River to Ninth Av, 34th-60th St. Miles per hour average is for weekdays, 8am to 6pm, holidays excluded.