Skip to main content

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

  • Campaign calls for full funding for metropolitan transport
    February 9, 2015
    A US pressure group is pushing for full funding for metropolitan transport, with a campaign that could have implications for other public transport systems. The Move NY team campaign aims to bring a faster, safer, fairer transportation system to the greater New York metropolitan region. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is responsible for public transportation in the US state of New York, serving 12 counties in south-eastern New York, along with two counties in south-western Connecticut und
  • Urban mobility and demand management - the Mobility Credits Model
    January 26, 2012
    Vito Marcolongo and Marco Troglia, Quaeryon srl describe the Mobility Credits Model, which is intended to combine inducements and fairness to improve mobility while reducing its more negative economic and environmental effects
  • Commuting habits come under scrutiny
    March 28, 2017
    Cities have a moral responsibility to encourage the smart use of transportation and Andrew Bardin Williams hears a few suggestions. Given the choice of getting a root canal, doing household chores, filing taxes, eating anchovies or commuting to work, nearly two-thirds of Americans said that they wouldn’t mind commuting into work—at least according to a poll conducted by Xerox (now Conduent) over its social media channels at the end of 2016.
  • It’s official: 20 (or 30) really is plenty
    April 30, 2025
    A study has looked at what 20mph (30 km/h) speed limits mean in terms of road safety – and the answers are encouraging. Alan Dron speaks to transport researcher Aud Tennøy…