This week's journey. Some Queens commuters are a little confused by the F and M tunnel switcheroo; Jackson Heights seniors have feedback about their permanent Open Street; Can a distracted conductor cause a train delay? and more.
The air in Midtown these days might not smell like the English countryside, but it’s a whole lot cleaner than this time last year.
That’s according to a new study examining an underappreciated effect of the MTA’s congestion pricing tolls, which launched last January with the goal of reducing Manhattan’s gridlock and raising money for the MTA. The peer-reviewed findings published this week in the scientific journal Nature found air pollution has plummeted across the region since the program began.
“Congestion pricing didn't just cause traffic to relocate, it didn't just shift air pollution over down to New Jersey. Instead, it caused a systemwide change in how people are commuting,” said Tim Fraser, an assistant teaching professor at Cornell Engineering who co-authored the study.
Fraser and his team compared two years of traffic and air pollution data from January through June, and were astonished by their findings.
The $9 daily toll correlated with a 22% drop in small airborne particles within Manhattan’s congestion zone. That type of fine particulate matter can get deep in people’s lungs and cause asthma. It’s what’s used to measure air quality.
Last year, Manhattan’s air contained a baseline of 13.8 micrograms of fine particulate matter, the study found. After congestion pricing launched, the figure dropped to 10.8. That’s still higher than the 9 micrograms the EPA says is the threshold for healthy air quality, but still reveals a significant environmental benefit from the tolls.
People with underlying health issues, the elderly, small children, and those who exercise regularly outdoors are most helped by the improvement.
And the phenomenon isn’t just limited to Manhattan. The study also found slight reductions in air pollution in the suburbs and other boroughs like the Bronx, where local leaders feared they would see more pollution due to rerouted traffic patterns caused by congestion pricing.
New Yorkers like Ryan Wilson don’t need a study to tell them the air is cleaner. He regularly exercises outdoors, and said he wears a mask less frequently when he goes on long runs in the city.
“ I pay attention very much to the air and how clean it is for me,” said Wilson, 37. “I'm thinking I definitely have seen a lot of changes out here.”
But it’s still New York City — and it’s still smoggy, even with fewer cars and trucks belching fumes across the five boroughs.
“ I've noticed I could jaywalk more,” Hells Kitchen resident Catherine Butschi, 31, said. “But when it comes to pollution, I don't think I notice too much of a difference.”
London and Milan saw much smaller dips in air pollution after they launched their own congestion pricing schemes, Fraser said. He credits the big drop in New York to about 18% fewer heavy trucks entering the congestion zone compared to last year.
“ That's really exciting. That suggests that there really is something to congestion pricing that can make our cities cleaner,” Fraser said. “It's exciting that it works in the United States — not just for Europeans anymore.”
Curious Commuter
Have a question for us? Use this form to submit yours and we may answer it in a future newsletter!
“Can a distracted train operator or distracted conductor cause a delay or even a significant delay?”
- DJ from Manhattan
Of course they can. Distracted train operators can cause delays when they exceed a speed limit, or run over a switch before a track signal turns green. Both those scenarios can trip a train’s emergency brakes, which in many cases forces the subway crew to go down on the tracks and reset the brakes by hand.
Distracted train operators have also been responsible for some of the most catastrophic crashes in the history of the subway, including a 1995 collision on the Williamsburg Bridge when a J train flew into the rear of an M train. The operator of the J train died from the crash, and investigators later determined he was likely either asleep or distracted.
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We're also talking about...
Commuter growing pains. Weekday F and M trains have officially begun their East River tunnel swap, causing some initial confusion for Queens commuters.
“This s--- is crazy.”
- 57-year-old rider Patricia Mattocks
It’s a relatively minor alteration to the city’s sprawling subway system, but it’s one the MTA says will unclog a train bottleneck that strains service on not just the F and M lines, but also the E and the R.
Open Street feedback. Queens seniors have some notes on the city’s first permanent Open Street on 34th Avenue: The signage on the blocks is confusing, there's a lack of trash bins and there aren't enough places to sit, among other things.
MetroCard retires, becomes art. In honor of the MetroCard’s final swipes, the New York Transit Museum is hosting an exhibit with a variety of carefully curated media plucked from the iconic payment method’s history.
