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| Transportation in the State of New York | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Locale | TheState of New York and surrounding regions |
| Transit type | Rapid transit,commuter rail,buses,private automobile,ferry,Taxicab,bicycle,pedestrian |
Transportation in New York is made up of some of the most extensive and one of the oldest transportation infrastructures in the country. Engineering difficulties because of the terrain of theState of New York and the unique issues ofNew York City brought on by urban crowding have had to be overcome since the state was young. Population expansion of the state generally followed the path of the early waterways, first theHudson River and then theErie Canal. Today, railroad lines and theNew York State Thruway follow the same general route.
Transportation was used early on to support industry and commerce in the State of New York. TheBoston Post Road, between what then the relatively small City of New York and Boston, began as a path to deliver the post usingpost riders (the first ride to lay out the Upper Post Road starting January 22, 1673), and developed into a wagon, orstage road in later colonial times. During the 19th century, pieces of the road were taken over and improved byturnpike companies. In the 1910s and 1920s, the Lower Post Road alignment (and realignments made to the route) was aNational Auto Trail known as the Boston Post Road. Large sections of the various routes are still given the name Boston Post Road, much of it is nowU.S. Route 1.
By the American Revolutionary War, the colonialProvince of New York was still small and relatively sparsely populated. In the1790 United States Census, the state had a population of 340,120, placing it behindVirginia (747,610),Pennsylvania (434,373),Massachusetts (378,787).[1] The state grew rapidly after this as New York City grew to become the country's shipping epicenter. On October 24, 1825, theErie Canal opened and over the next century would make boom towns out of theUpstate cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Rome, Utica and Schenectady. Use of the canal would only decline after 1950. Cities in the State of New York would frequently show up as amongst thelargest in the United States during the 19th, and into the early 20th century.
The other major contribution to New York's transportation system was its extensive railroad network. TheNew York CentralWater Level Route was advertised as the world's first four-track railroad, and connected New York City, Buffalo, and the cities in between.
Early transportation in the State of New York was primarily by rivers andcanals. Today, the canals are primarily used for recreation.
One of the most famous urban mass transit systems in the world is theNew York City Subway. New York City is also served byPort Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH), and an extensive bus system.
Besides New York City, many of the other cities havemass transit systems.
Buffalo Metro Rail servesBuffalo, the second largest city in the state. However, this service also resembles a light rail system.
Rochester had a subway system, although it is mostly destroyed. Only a small part exists under the old Erie Canal Aqueduct. In its day, the system would carry people underground on what were essentially streetcars. If the system still existed today, it would probably be described as a light rail service.
Rochester,Utica, and other upstate cities once hadstreetcar andinterurban systems.
NJ Transit andAmtrak also serve New York City and its suburbs.
Like most of United States, the only intercity rail passenger service is provided byAmtrak. New York City'sPennsylvania Station is the busiest of Amtrak's rail stations. The most successful of Amtrak's routes, theNortheast Corridor, operates betweenWashington, D.C., andBoston,Massachusetts. The most popular and heavily used routes in the Amtrak system are those on the Northeast Corridor, which include theAcela Express, and theNortheast Regional.
Amtrak'sEmpire Service trains provide frequent daily service along the 460-mile (740 km)Empire Corridor between New York City andNiagara Falls. The route was formerly theWater Level Route of theNew York Central Railroad toBuffalo and then the formerBuffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad. One train, known as theMaple Leaf, continues beyond Niagara Falls toToronto, Ontario, Canada.
Recently, the state has taken more interest in increasing the frequency and speed of intercity rail, going so far as to propose the creation of astatewide high-speed rail network.
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New York City is a hub for intercity bus networks in the northeastern United States. The rest of the state is served by intercity buses run by companies such asMegabus,Greyhound Lines,Trailways of New York,OurBus,[2] North Fork Express,[3]Hampton Jitney, Coach USAShort Line and others.
In the state of New York, the most prominent airports are the ones serving New York City, withJohn F. Kennedy International Airport andLaGuardia Airport having the most enplanements by a wide margin.Buffalo Niagara International Airport, the airport with the third most enplanements lags behind second place LaGuardia by 13 million.
LaGuardia Airport, colloquially known as LaGuardia or simply LGA – is a civil airport inEast Elmhurst,Queens,New York City, situated on thenorthwestern shore ofLong Island, borderingFlushing Bay. Covering 680acres (280 ha) as of January 1, 2025[update],[4] the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named afterFiorello H. La Guardia, a formermayor of New York City.
The largest single artery in the State of New York is the New York State Thruway, which is more than 400 miles fromThe Bronx toBuffalo. It follows theHudson River betweenNew York City andAlbany with anInterstate 87 designation and theErie Canal betweenAlbany and the Pennsylvania border with anInterstate 90 designation.
New York is home to many parkways built byRobert Moses. Among his projects are theBrooklyn-Queens Expressway, theStaten Island Expressway, theCross-Bronx Expressway, theBelt Parkway, theLaurelton Parkway, and many more.
Other parkways include theCross County Parkway andSaw Mill River Parkway in Westchester, theTaconic State Parkway, thePalisades Interstate Parkway, theNorthern State Parkway and theSouthern State Parkway (the latter two both in Long Island).
Most tunnels in the state of New York are within New York City.
The principal north–south highways are as follows:
Interstate 81 has two auxiliary routes,Interstate 481 andInterstate 781.
Interstate 87 has three auxiliary routes:Interstate 287,Interstate 587, andInterstate 787.
Interstate 95 has three auxiliary routes:Interstate 295,Interstate 495, andInterstate 695.
The principal east–west highways are as follows:
(the part of the Holland Tunnel that is in New York State, originally planned as theLower Manhattan Expressway)
Interstate 78 has four auxiliary routes:Interstate 278,Interstate 478,Interstate 678, andInterstate 878. All were planned to connect to Interstate 78, but none of them currently do.
Interstate 84 has one auxiliary route,Interstate 684.
Interstate 86 and Interstate 88 have no auxiliary routes.
Interstate 90 has nine auxiliary routes:Interstate 190,Interstate 290,Interstate 390,Interstate 490,Interstate 590,Interstate 690,Interstate 790,Interstate 890, andInterstate 990.
Between 2010 and 2014, NYS has between 1039 and 1202 yearly road traffic fatalities, that is between 8 and 8.3 fatalities by billion miles traveled.Pedestrian fatalities are between yearly 263 and 336.[7]
In the NY state, pedestrians are one out of 4 fatalities, each year. Those fatalities are due to unsafe actions both from motorists and from pedestrians.[7]
NY state is one of the fives US states with the most pedestrian fatalities: 879 fatalities of which 294 (33%) occurred at intersections.[8]
New York has a system of numbered statebicycle routes.[9]
New York City boasts one of the most extensive urban transportation systems in the world, including two distinct mass transit systems:
New York City's automobile network is also extensive. It includes many bridges and limited access highways built by Robert Moses, and is integrated with a street grid that dates to the early 19th century.
While extensive, much of New York City's infrastructure is aging and in need of capital investment. Despite the lack of expansion and investment during the past few decades, many infrastructure projects including theSecond Avenue Subway,7 Subway Extension,Fulton Center, and theEast Side Access have already started construction during the 2000s.
Every major form of transportation serves Long Island, includingthreemajorairports, railroads and subways, and several major highways. There are historic and modern bridges,recreational and commuter trails, and ferries as well.
TheLong Island Expressway,Northern State Parkway, andSouthern State Parkway, all products of the automobile-centered planning of Robert Moses, make east–west travel on the island straightforward, if not always quick. Indeed, locals refer to Long Island Expressway as "The World's Longest Parking Lot".
There are currently ten road crossings out of Long Island, all withinNew York City limits at the extreme western end of the island. Plans for aLong Island Sound link at various locations in Nassau and Suffolk Counties have been discussed for decades, but there are currently no firm plans to construct such a crossing.
TheLong Island Rail Road is the busiest commuter railroad system in North America, carrying an average of 282,400 customers each weekday on 728 daily trains. Chartered on April 24, 1834, it is also the oldest railroad still operating under its original name.[10]
Transportation in Buffalo is dominated by automobile use, but other modes of transportation exist in the city.
TheErie Canal made Buffalo a major port. Railroads including the New York Central confirmed its status.
See:
New York presently only boasts theBuffalo Metro Rail, which is arguably a light rail system. Proposals include:
