With world population growing rapidly and the demand for resources increasing
exponentially, the need to plan for a sustainable future is one of many priorities for
governments in the 21st Century. Traffic congestion and water shortages are two of many
urban problems that the city of New York encounters. This inquiry will examine the ways in
which New York has implemented sustainable planning strategies and policies to manage
these urban problems.
Traffic congestion is a major problem for New York, it is define as “a condition on road
networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterised by slower speeds, longer trip
times, and increased vehicular queuing.” Over the past decade, the streets, highways,
tunnels and bridges of New York City and the surrounding metropolitan region have become
increasingly clogged with traffic. To ease traffic congestion, the government of New York
has developed certain sustainable planning strategies and there has been an expansion of
roads, highways and freeways, creating new lanes and they are also further developing
public transport.
Water shortage is also a large problem in New York, mainly as a result of an increased
demand in domestic, industrial and agricultural areas, which is essentially due to climate
change and rising populations. Access to clean; usable water has become a major issue for
New York. With increasing populations and a high density living style, New York is
considering new ways of making and collecting drinkable water to increase sustainability.
Causes of traffic congestion
Traffic congestion occurs when the flow or movement of vehicles travelling along road
networks are slowed; in extreme cases of congestion, traffic can even come to a complete
stop. In New York traffic congestions is either recurring congestion, or random congestion.
Recurring congestion is quite predictable and can be planned for. It is triggered by things
like increased private vehicle ownership, limited public transport, concentrated travel times,
rapid population growth and urban sprawl. Random congestion triggers congestion from a
random occurrence, and is therefore not predictable. It is triggered by things like reduced
flow, reduced road capacity and special events. The most frequent cause of traffic
congestion in New York is concentrated travel times, when mass amounts of traffic build up
during the peak periods of the day; which is at the start and end of each working day (6am
to 10am). The primary source of congestion is the travel to and from the CBD; however the
problem is felt across the region.
Another cause of traffic congestion in New York is rapid population growth. This usually
occurs because of more people moving into the city and a rise in the birth rates. There is
also an increase in the number of private vehicle ownerships in New York. This is due to
increased living standards and higher incomes, allowing for people to purchase their own
vehicles. Limited public transport has also become more of a problem for New York. The
public transportation is increasing with the rising populations, but it has become
overcrowded and undesirable, and so people prefer to use their own vehicles. Reduced road
capacity is a random occurrence that happens often in New York. This is when the vehicle
capacity for a road network is reduced. This could be due to variations such as; road repairs,
the closing of a lane, flooding, a special event or a traffic accident. A reduced flow is a
random occurrence that could potentially upset the regular flow of traffic. For example a
driver may slow down to avoid something on the road, causing a ripple effect in traffic and
making people that are two kilometres behind have to slow down; which can end up in
congestion.
Another factor contributing to traffic congestion in New York is truck services. The key
industries in New York City are financial services, professional services and media, which
tend to generate constant travel demands. Because New York does not have a freight-rail
system it is quite dependant on trucks for delivery of goods and services. Although trucks
are only responsible for less than 10 per cent of the daily travel within Manhattan, there is
over 40, 000 trucks entering the area on weekdays. Therefore trucks are a major contributor
to the traffic congestion.
Nature and extent of traffic congestion
Over the years, the highways, tunnels and bridges of New York have become more and
more clogged up with traffic. During peak time, 6am to 10am, commute travel speeds are
often under 20kph. Most of the traffic congestion is coming from the area of Manhattan,
between 60th Street and the Battery. This is most likely because the main forces in the
economy, Midtown and Downtown business districts, are located in this area. Every
weekday, around 3.6 million people travel into Manhattan south of 60 th Street, a third of
them in vehicles. Only half are commuters going to work. Although New York’s subway
system is considered to be one of the best mass-transit systems, its current public transit
system is not sufficient in terms of the capacity, quality or accessibility.
Planning strategies for traffic congestion and stakeholders
One plan that New York has adapted is the Greenway Plan which is the city’s vision for
establishing about 560 km of landscaped bicycle and pedestrian paths throughout the city.
Pedestrian and bicycle planning is being developed as a management strategy for
congestion. They are developing a series of greenways and pathways to better serve the
population of pedestrian and bicycle commuters. Also encouraging more people to walk or
bike to work. Cycling and walking are useful means to access another mode of
transportation. In New York they are building connected networks of on-street lands and
off-road greenways. These networks for a comprehensive system for recreational and
commuting purposes. There are plans underway to complete a continuous bicycle greenway
along the Hudson River from the upper areas of Manhattan to the City of New York. Another
solution that New York is undertaking to minimise traffic congestion is a program called Safe
Routes to School (SRTS). The main goal of this plan being to make walking and cycling to
school safe and appealing.
Congestion affects the cost of doing business and the cost of living in the entire region. An
estimated 50,000 jobs are being lost every year in the New York metropolitan region as a
result of business costs, lost revenue and lost productivity. The costs of congestion are
implicated across much of the economy; but in particular the manufacturing, wholesale
trade and construction. The costs are passed on to other businesses and consumers; and the
net losses are felt mostly in Manhattan, New Jersey and Long Island.
PlaNYC has devised many strategies to improve the city’s transit network by expanding the
main roads that are experiencing the most congestion, expanding the subway and ferry
systems, making bus services available throughout the whole city and finishing the bike
master plan, encouraging alternative ways of travel. Another plan that is being considers is
congestion charging. This method has become increasingly popular in cities such as
Singapore and London, where people have to pay a fee for driving during the peak hour.
This encourages commuters to use public transportation rather than their cars, and would
reduce the number of cars on the road.
New York City is expected to grow by another 900, 000 people and has 20 million people
visiting each year; congestion will only get worse. Also, there is 750, 000 new jobs in the
CBD; meaning more cars coming into the CBD, resulting in even more congestion. PlaNYC
has proposed many ways to help reduce the traffic congestion. One new plan that they are
considering is congestion pricing, which they are trialling at the moment. They hope that
this will be effective in decreasing the amount of traffic in New York’s CBD by making the
couple million workers, who commute to the CBD daily, have to pay to drive into the city or
take public transport. Because of all the jobs in the CBD, traffic congestion is only expected
to get worse; therefore other means of transportation are being encouraged. Congestion
pricing is a strategy that has proven successful elsewhere in the world and would be a
sustainable solution for New York. It would mean that more people choose to use public
transportation as it will be cheaper for them and it would be faster to get to work.
Stakeholders for traffic congestion include individuals in the community, most being middle
or lower class workers. The congestion pricing would affect most drivers as well as the New
York Government. Many of the drivers are against the idea of congestion pricing because it
means that that they would have more costs to get to work. However, some more upper
classed residents of New York, support the idea; as getting to work would be faster. The
Government is also for the idea, because it would be more sustainable now and for future
generations.
Causes of water shortages
New York has the largest drinking-water system in the country, delivering 5.5 billion litres of
water each day through 480 kilometres of tunnels and aqueducts and 9660 kilometres of
distribution mains. The water for New York City comes from Neversink River, Esopus Creek,
and Schoharie Creek and from the many reservoirs in the city. Over time the water system
has been developed and today New York’s water originates in watersheds which extend for
nearly 5200 square kilometres; and includes nineteen reservoirs and three controlled lakes.
Despite all the engineering to supply New York with water, the quality of the water has
varied. New York City continually struggles to maintain the high quality of its water. In the
last 50 years the city has sprawled outwards, into the water catchment areas. This has cause
water pollution; with fertiliser, sewage and road salt entering the reservoirs. Runoff from
the suburbs is contaminating the water.
New York City continues to invest heavily in water infrastructure. They have planned for a
third water tunnel, extending nearly 100 kilometres. However, New York City still needs to
continually monitor and improve water quality management.
Planning strategies for water shortages
In New York, capital investment of the water system is ongoing to ensure sustainability of
the water supply for future generations. PlaNYC has planned various schemes to protect the
quality of drinking water and to ensure reliable delivery of the water to residents. In order
to do this, the New York Government will invest about 7 billion dollars over the next 10
years.
PlaNYC’s strategies to have cleaner drinking water start with minimising the polluting of
water from the suburbs by minimising the construction of residential zones within the
proximity of the watersheds. PlaNYC is also planning to complete an ultraviolet disinfection
facility for the Catskill and Delaware system as well as a filtration plant for the Croton
system. They plan to upgrade existing resources in order to ensure that the residents of
New York have sustainable levels of clean drinking water for generations to come.
New York needs to monitor and improve water quality, especially with the increased urban
sprawl. Detailed management plans have been set up to regulate activities such as sewage
treatment, farming and forestry in watersheds in order to reduce the risk of any water
contamination. They also continue to use technology and engineering to reduce sediment
run-off into waterways. Enforcement of environmental laws is also necessary in order to
limit phosphorous, reduce turbidity and prohibit human and animal waste from entering the
water system.
As well as maintaining the quality of the water, New York City has also focused on reducing
the amount of water it uses. This is done by the mandatory use of water-saving plumbing
fixtures in renovations and new constructions. There is also a decline in manufacturing and
other industries within the metropolitan area; meaning less water is used there. Also,
because of urban renewal and redevelopment leaking, inefficient plumbing and sewage
systems are being fixed and modernised; which saves waters.
Some other projects and policies of PlaNYC are: to maintain and enhance the infrastructure
that delivers water to New York, to improve the efficiency of the water supply system, the
continuation of the Watershed Protection Program and to modernise in-city distribution.
PlaNYC will maintain and enhance the infrastructure that delivers water by connecting the
Delaware and Catskill Aqueducts and pressurising the Catskill Aqueduct. They also maintain
and upgrade the dams to ensure the water will continue to get distributed throughout the
city. By increased water conservation as well as increased operational efficiency with new
technologies, PlaNYC improves the efficiency of New York’s water supply system. The
Watershed Protection Program aims to protect the water supply from hydro fracking for
natural gas. In continuing this program, PlaNYC hopes to complete the Catskill/Delaware
Ultraviolet Disinfection Facility as well as the Croton Water Filtration Plan. PlaNYC plans to
modernise in-city distribution by completing City Water Tunnel No. 3, upgrading the water
main infrastructure and by building a backup tunnel to Staten Island.
The City’s Water Tunnel No. 3 is the biggest construction project in New York’s history. The
tunnel will be the third connection to the upstate city’s water supply. The tunnel is about
100 kilometres long, and is costing in total around 6 billion dollars to the government. It will
allow for New York City’s water to have clean travel and is a step in modernisation of water
transportation in New York. Once tunnel no. 3 is finished, the other tunnels can be repaired.
This is very important because there are a lot of leakages in the tunnels which is wasting lots
and lots of water each day.
Stakeholders for the construction of the City Water Tunnel No. 3 would be the people who
consume the water and the government. The majority of the people in New York, as well as
the government, are for the construction of the tunnel. It is an important asset for New
York, as it will insure sustainable levels of clean water for the future.
Conclusion
All cities around the world experience problems and issues. As more and more people
populate the urban centres, they become increasingly aware of these problems and issues.
They then tend to look to government to resolve them. In most cases intervention is
reactive and remedial, although in recent times the development of sustainable planning
strategies has seen an increase in proactive intervention. The government in New York City
has adopted sustainable planning strategies in order to resolve their urban problems. By
these plans they are encouraging a greener, and more sustainable city; hoping that the
people of New York will engage with these plans, and be proactive in helping their city. New
York’s plan; PlaNYC is, seeks to make New York a greener, greater, more resilient city. Public
engagement plays a big role in achieving this. We see, for example with the issue of traffic
congestion, how the people are encouraged to use public transport and other means of
transportation to reduce the congestion. Also, with the problem of water shortages, people
are helping to solve this by cutting down on water usage and aiding in the prevention of
water pollution.