Cubic and Mastercard study shows impact of New York’s car free day

Following a request from New York City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez to measure the impact of Car Free Day NYC held in April, Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) and Mastercard have now published their report about transportation demand and retail impact assessment resulting from the initiative. Rodriguez organised the initiative with a strong coalition of local support towards the goal of reducing single-occupancy vehicle use and stimulating dialogue around environmental issues. The assessment leveraged
November 17, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Following a request from New York City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez to measure the impact of Car Free Day NYC held in April, 378 Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) and 1756 Mastercard have now published their report about transportation demand and retail impact assessment resulting from the initiative.

Rodriguez organised the initiative with a strong coalition of local support towards the goal of reducing single-occupancy vehicle use and stimulating dialogue around environmental issues.

The assessment leveraged the Urbanomics Mobility Project, a Cubic-Mastercard co-developed data analysis toolset for fuelling smarter and more inclusive cities, based on public transportation data and insights derived from anonymised and aggregated transaction data.

Specific objectives of Councilman Rodriguez’s request included measuring changes in public transportation demand, traveller spend behaviour around car-free zones and the impact of redistributed traffic on business areas in proximity to car-free zones.

The one-day event resulted in an increase of more than 30,000 passengers than the season’s daily average on the MTA subway, while public data for other services like bike share also showed a statistically significant increase in usage.

For retail stores, there were no significant adverse effects on commercial activity in the surrounding areas, despite road closures created to facilitate and support the spirit of the event.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • IBM and NXP partner on Dutch connected car pilot
    February 21, 2013
    The first results of a smarter traffic pilot, conducted in the Dutch city of Eindhoven by IBM and NXP Semiconductors demonstrate how the connected car automatically shares braking, acceleration and location data that can be analysed by the central traffic authority to identify and resolve road network issues, say the companies. “The trial successfully showed that anonymous information from vehicles can be analysed by local traffic authorities to resolve road network issues faster, reduce congestion and impr
    Read More
  • M&S looks all around to reduce collisions
    June 20, 2014
    UK retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) is trialling the latest 360-degree camera system from Brigade and technology partner, ASL Vision, to further improve safety on its lorry fleet. As systems offering a surround view in a single image become more widespread on rigid trucks, M&S wants to find out if the benefits can be extended to articulated vehicles. An initial trial was set up using the Backeye 360 Elite system from Brigade Electronics with powerful software from ASL Vision at its core. The trial is now to b
    Read More
  • Electric cars merely a green Illusion, according to new environmental book
    June 12, 2012
    Hybrid and electric cars are neither clean nor green according to a new environmental book, Green Illusions, written by University of California - Berkeley visiting scholar Ozzie Zehner. It exposes numerous hidden side effects of new hybrid and electric cars. The analysis considers mining impacts, toxins, energy use, suburban sprawl and carbon footprints of production. From an environmental perspective, Zehner argues that hybrids and electric cars are no better than conventional internal combustion engined
    Read More
  • Report on the impact of recession on infrastructure funding worldwide
    May 10, 2012
    A new report examines how aggressive government belt-tightening and financial market deleveraging restrained worldwide infrastructure investments for 2012 and probably for the next five years. In the US, for instance, Infrastructure2012: Spotlight on Leadership, released by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Ernst & Young, says that constrained public budgets and a growing recognition at the local level of the importance of infrastructure, combined with lack of action at the federal level, are causing state
    Read More

Highlighted Content