If city residents drove as often as the rest of America (or, let's face it, if as many of them had drivers licenses), we'd need a 25 sq. mile parking lot to fit all the cars. According to a new city commissioned study, there would be 4.5 million more cars clogging up rush hour traffic if New Yorkers drove the same amount as folks in other metropolitan centers. Well, maybe it's high time we put that giant useless space in the middle of Manhattan to good use?
The study concludes that public transportation and pedestrian friendly construction helps the city's environment and the economy, but it also has a lot of fun facts that we can shove in other cities' faces! For instance:
- New Yorkers drive an average of 9 miles a day, while in other large, metropolitan areas the average is 25 miles.
- City residents save $19 million a year by not buying cars or spending money on gas, and instead spend that money locally, boosting the economy.
- 57% of New Yorkers take the subway or bus to work, while 32% take cars (their own or cabs), 10% walk and 1.2% bike.
Nobody could figure out how the 10% of New Yorkers who are unemployed get anywhere.
