New York Gridlock

by Herbert I. London
December 21, 2010 at 4:30 am

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/1746/new-york-gridlock

A former Commissioner of Traffic several decades ago was asked, "what is the best way to get crosstown in Manhattan?" He thought for a moment and said, "Be born there." That statement was made before bus lanes, bicycle lands, outdoor seating in the middle of Times Square, trains bursting with passengers at all hours of the day and an MTA that puts most of its money into employee salaries rather than infrastructure maintenance.

New York is now at virtual transportation gridlock. There simply isn't a way to get from point A to point B in the center of this city. At this point, the best way to get crosstown is probably to dream about it.

For physicians, the expression "primum non nocere" [first do no harm] is axiomatic. But this expression should apply to government officials as much as doctors. In the last three years New York City officials have built 200 miles of bike lanes making First and Second Avenues impassable during rush hour. The attempt to convert New York into a bikers' paradise is bizarre. Only an elitist who does not ride a bus or walk the streets thinks that this metropolitan city can resemble Amsterdam.

Some New York residents actually believe bike lanes are pedestrian walkways making them extremely hazardous to your health. Moreover, as there are no regulations for bikers there is the belief that riding against traffic is permitted. DOT Commissioner Janette Sadikkhan contends, "There is a new street code out there and we need everyone to look out for one another and be safe." Is she kidding? In New York, the code is move if you can and let the pedestrian be damned.

Of course, this is only half the problem. Mayor Bloomberg got the inspired idea that tourists need an outdoor seating area in the middle of Times Square and Herald Square making two of New York's busiest areas into a nightmarish congestion. If God forbid, you need an ambulance or fire truck in these locales to save a life, you can count on dying. There is simply no way to pass.

In addition, our government leaders contend the best way to get around this city is by subway trains, that is if you can get on them. The Numbers 4 and 5 on the east side are always jammed; you are lucky if you can get on the train at all. At the 42^nd Street station, there isn't enough room to stand; passengers sit on the steps in the hope they can get on the next train.

Because the east side trains are so crowded, you might wish to the R, running along Broadway. However this train is the slowest in the western world. A trip from the Staten Island Ferry to Fifth Avenue and 59^th Street, a trip of roughly six miles took an hour and twenty minutes last week. You can walk more briskly than that.

What this adds up to is a city in transportation gridlock. Roads designed for bikers; avenues designed for tourists and trains designed for sloths. I love New York, but I would like to be able to move in this city before I move out of it.

You would have to be myopic to design a transportation system as chaotic as ours. The cost of getting around has to be factored into the business equation, including on the ability to travel to stores to make purchases. Further, he frustration of sitting in traffic takes a toll on drivers; the congestion of trains must be taking a toll on passengers.

But New York comes to a standstill, people go on blithely as if these conditions are "normal." You will not be able to move crosstown or uptown, traffic is becoming frozen. The mayor might likely use a helicopter to get from one place to the next; sadly, that is not a choice for the rest of us.

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