My Opinion on NYC Traffic
For someone who is a driver in New York, there is always one thing they should keep in mind when stuck in traffic; things could get even worse for them. Well, if anyone ever doubted the seriousness of the traffic situation in New York, here is a shocker; The Big Apple is the fourth most congested metropolis in the United States and home to the nation’s worst traffic corridor. So, if you want my opinion on NYC traffic, prepare for the worse.
According to city officials, NYC has always been intentionally grounded to make drivers miserable and force New Yorkers to leave their cars at home and turn to mass transit. According to revelations from Fox News analyst Judge Napolitano, New York’s current gridlock is a result of de Blasio and Bloomberg’s administrative efforts to redesign the streets and ramp up police efforts.
While drivers in other cities suffer more in aggregate, New York remains the home to America’s most congested and unsafe roads. For instance, INRIX ranked the Cross-Bronx Expressway top of the United States’ worst traffic corridors. Drivers on this road have had to do with more than 114 hour-traffic delays every year. The same applies to the roads linking Bruckner Expressway and the Trans-Manhattan Expressway.
The Big Apple is ranked joint second with Moscow in INRIX’s most congested cities behind Los Angeles. However, traffic nightmares in New York are forcing the state and city to enforce a special “user fee” for driving in Manhattan. Accordingly, the city’s crosstown streets are more stop and go. However, north-to-south-running avenues offer a bit of relief until you hit Park Avenue.
With more than two decades into his career as a commentator for Fox News, Andrew Napolitano admits that driving in Manhattan is a total waste of time and would prefer the subways.
As if that is not enough, there has always been a little problem with the New York traffic situation: lots of crime. The Big Apple has a bit of a reputation for crimes along the busy streets and roads. From petty crimes, such as bag snatching and pickpocketing to mugging and outright violence, there is always that dark side to New York City. Recently, a family was caught up in the city’s dark side when a group of cyclists tried forcing them out of their car for failing to slow down for a man on a bike to get a lift.
Adding to the outrageous gridlock, traffic agents admit that authorities force them to focus on writing tickets instead of keeping cars moving. An unnamed former NYPD traffic-safety officer admits that “it seems nobody is doing traffic direction anymore. Everyone is more focused on enforcing parking violations.”
The NYC driver nightmare started in 2003 under Bloomberg’s THRU streets program. The program was meant to prohibit drivers from turning onto most avenues during weekday hours. Later on, Bloomberg tried to reduce vehicle traffic by establishing a congestion-pricing program to charge drivers entering Midtown. However, the program did not work, and Manhattan still is a traffic hell with drivers having to do with 8.2mph average speed.