Half Of NYC Car Trips Could Be Made On Two Wheels, Study Shows

NEW YORK — Two wheels may be better than four. More than half the trips taken by car in New York City are short enough to be made on a bike or an electric scooter, a new study indicates.

The findings point to the potential that so-called micromobility services like Citi Bike have to reduce traffic congestion and vehicle emissions in New York and across the country, according to the INRIX study released Monday.

Some 51 percent of the vehicle trips taken in the five boroughs cover just three miles or fewer, meaning they're short enough to be taken on a shared bicycle or e-scooter, according to the traffic analytics company's examination of more than 50 million car trips taken in the 25 most congested U.S. cities in October 2018.

Some 22 percent of the city's car trips are up to a mile, tying for the third-highest rate among the cities INRIX analyzed. Another 17 percent cover one to two miles and 11 percent are two to three miles, the study says.

Manhattan is home to a dense concentration of short car trips, with Midtown and the Upper East Side hosting the highest numbers of them, INRIX found. Micromobility services could be especially helpful by providing an alternative to driving in neighborhoods that lack good access to public transit, according to the report.

"With congestion tolling and the continued expansion of the protected cycle network in New York City, shared micromobility services could safely provide critical first- and last-mile connections to neighborhoods throughout the city," INRIX's report reads.

Citi Bike has proven a popular test case for micromobility in the Big Apple — the six-year-old bike-sharing network logged more than 90,000 trips in a single day last week, a first for any system of its kind in America.

Other companies have sought to break into the city's lucrative mobility market. Bird, Lime and other electric scooter firms lobbied hard for a bill the state Legislature passed in June that would pave the way for a scooter-sharing program in New York like those that have taken over other cities. The measure is awaiting Gov. Andrew Cuomo's signature.

The city's Department of Transportation says it is keeping an eye on the micromobility industry and other cities' experiences as it awaits action on the scooter bill from Cuomo. The agency is also facilitating a Citi Bike expansion and evaluating dockless-bike sharing programs, according to a department spokesperson.

"Shifting trips to more sustainable modes, including walking, biking, and transit, is a key pillar of the New York City’s climate strategy as well as a central objective of our mobility strategy," the DOT spokesperson said in a statement.

The fact that so many short car trips could be made on two wheels underscores the need to strengthen the city's existing micromobility infrastructure — including bike lanes — before more companies enter the fray, according to Ben Fried, the communications director at TransitCenter, an advocacy group.

In addition to expaning Citi Bike, the city should follow through on its commitment to build more protected bike lanes and keep existing ones "clear and safe," Fried said.

"It’s not just about micromobility services, although those are the new thing on the scene," he said. "It’s really just about making the streets safe enough for people to bike."