Uber, Lyft Cars Clogging Manhattan Streets, Study Finds

NEW YORK, NY — Ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft are clogging central Manhattan with cars, worsening the borough's already dismal traffic, a study published Thursday says.

Traffic speeds in Manhattan between 60th Street and the Battery declined 15 percent from 2013 to this year as the number of trips in ride-sharing cars and taxis grew by 15 percent, according to the study by Bruce Schaller, a former deputy city transportation commissioner and former policy director for the Taxi and Limousine Commission.

Ride-hailing services accounted for the bulk of that growth — New Yorkers took 128,000 fewer cab trips on the average weekday this year compared to 2013, while the number of ride-sharing trips skyrocketed from nearly none to 202,000 on the average weekday in the same period, the report says.

There are also more cars on the road now than four years ago. The number of taxis and ride-hailing vehicles in Manhattan's central business district, or CBD, has grown by 59 percent since 2013, while the number of miles they travel in a given day has increased by 36 percent. A growth in miles driven by ride-hailing cars offset a drop in miles driven by taxis, data show.

Ride-sharing vehicles spend about 40 percent of their time driving around without a passenger in the car, the study says, while the number for cabs is about 35 percent, the study says. So getting around Manhattan isn't necessarily easier even though there are more cars available, the report says.

"The very rapid growth in unoccupied vehicles in the CBD is of particular note since the increased time and mileage that drivers spend between trips exacerbates congestion but does not contribute to the mobility needs of New Yorkers," says Schaller's study, titled "Empty Streets, Full Seats: Fixing Manhattan's Traffic Problem."

Schaller recommends that the city or state require companies like Uber and Lyft, as well as cabs, to use updated dispatch systems that reduce the amount of time their cars spend on the way to pick up a fare.

That, in conjunction with a "congestion pricing" plan to impose tolls on the East River bridges into Manhattan that would fund public transit, could significantly reduce congestion and improve travel times, the study concludes.

Schaller's report contradicts a 2016 city-commissioned study that concluded Uber was not the primary culprit of the city's congestion woes. That study blamed the problem on a variety of factors, including increased construction, deliveries, tourism and employment.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a plan in October to reduce congestion by clearing parking lanes during rush hours and improving gridlock enforcement, among other measures. But he has opposed congestion pricing, calling it a "regressive tax" on working-class New Yorkers despite data showing the new tolls would affect very few poor people.

Asked for comment on Schaller's recommendations, Alana Morales, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Transportation, said the DOT is reviewing the study.

Uber says its passengers take more than half their trips outside Manhattan, while 92 percent of taxi trips are within Manhattan.

The company is working to make its dispatching technology more efficient, a spokeswoman said. It's seen the most growth in "Uber Pool" rides, in which multiple passengers take the same car to their destinations. Uber has also launched a six-figure ad campaign supporting congestion pricing.

"Uber supports a congestion pricing plan that ensures everyone using Manhattan’s roads — whether it’s a personal vehicle, delivery truck, taxi or Uber — pays their fair share to help reduce congestion and improve our public transit system," Uber spokeswoman Danielle Filson said in a statement.

(Lead image: An Uber car waits for a passenger in Manhattan in June. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)