Department overview | |
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Jurisdiction | New York City |
Headquarters | 55 Water Street Manhattan, New York, NY |
Employees | 5,852 (2020 [update] ) [1] |
Annual budget | $943.3 million |
Department executives |
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Key document | |
Website | www |
The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) is the agency of the government of New York City [2] responsible for the management of much of New York City's transportation infrastructure. Ydanis Rodriguez is the Commissioner of the Department of Transportation, [3] and was appointed by Mayor Eric Adams on January 1, 2022. [4] Former Commissioners have included Polly Trottenberg, Janette Sadik-Khan, and Iris Weinshall. The NYCDOT has a training center in eastern Queens.
The Department of Transportation's responsibilities include day-to-day maintenance of the city's streets, highways, bridges, sidewalks, street signs, traffic signals, and street lights. DOT supervises street resurfacing, pothole repair, parking meter installation and maintenance, and municipal parking facility management. DOT also operates the Staten Island Ferry. DOT is the exclusive provider of day-to-day operations and maintenance on state-maintained roads and highways in city limits, while major repairs and capital improvements on state-owned roads are performed by the State DOT (NYSDOT). Both DOT and NYSDOT reserve the right to install signage, signals, and other roadway features on state highways, which then become maintained on a daily basis by DOT. DOT sets the speed limit on all roads and highways in the city, including those owned by NYSDOT.
DOT is also responsible for oversight of transportation-related issues, such as authorizing jitney van services and permits for street construction. DOT also advocates for transportation safety issues, including promotion of pedestrian and bicycle safety.
Its regulations are compiled in title 34 of the New York City Rules .
The first traffic lights in New York City originated from traffic towers installed along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in the 1910s. [5] The first such towers were installed in 1920 and were replaced in 1929 by bronze traffic signals. [6] As of June 30,2011 [update] , the DOT oversaw 12,460 intersections citywide with traffic lights. [7] By 2017, the DOT controlled nearly 13,000 signalized intersections, almost all of which had pedestrian signals; of these, over half (7,507) had countdown timers for pedestrians. [8] In addition, 635 signalized intersections under the DOT's control had exclusive pedestrian phases as of 2017 [update] . [9]
As of 2019 [update] , the DOT maintained 548 accessible pedestrian signals for blind and visually impaired pedestrians. [10] The first such signals were installed in 1957, but few accessible signals were added for the next half-century. [11] [12] In 2021, a federal judge ruled that the DOT had to install accessible signals at 9,000 intersections; [12] [13] the DOT plans to install these signals through 2031. [14] [15] All remaining intersections are planned to have accessible signals by 2036. [15]
The DOT maintains 250,000 streetlamps as of 2019 [update] . [16] Most of them are LED lamps, installed between 2013 and 2018. [17]
One of the larger groups of traffic restrictions implemented by the DOT is in Midtown Manhattan, where the DOT maintains a system of "thru streets" and split traffic-signal phases to prevent congestion on west–east streets. [18]
As of 2017, DOT had the budget and staff as follows: [19]
Division | Number of Employees | Budget (millions) |
---|---|---|
Executive | 598 | $116.8 |
Highway Operations | 1492 | $277.8 |
Transit Operations | 694 | $91.8 |
Traffic Operations | 1418 | $353.3 |
Bureau of Bridges | 858 | $106.3 |
Total | 5060 | $943.3 |
The DOT operates 794 roadway and pedestrian bridges throughout New York City, including 25 movable bridges. [20] The agency's portfolio includes most of the East River and Harlem River bridges, as well as smaller bridges throughout the city. DOT operates two retractable bridges (the Borden Avenue and Carroll Street bridges). Other agencies that operate road bridges in New York include the MTA, the PANYNJ, and the NYSDOT.
Broadway is a road in the U.S. state of New York. Broadway runs from the south at State Street at Bowling Green for 13 mi (20.9 km) through the borough of Manhattan, over the Broadway Bridge, and 2 mi (3.2 km) through the Bronx, exiting north from New York City to run an additional 18 mi (29.0 km) through the Westchester County municipalities of Yonkers, Hastings-On-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, Tarrytown, and Sleepy Hollow, after which the road continues, but is no longer called "Broadway". The latter portion of Broadway comprises a portion of U.S. Route 9.
A pedestrian crossing is a place designated for pedestrians to cross a road, street or avenue. The term "pedestrian crossing" is also used in the Vienna and Geneva Conventions, both of which pertain to road signs and road traffic.
Interstate 278 (I-278) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York in the United States. The road runs 35.62 miles (57.32 km) from US Route 1/9 (US 1/9) in Linden, New Jersey, northeast to the Bruckner Interchange in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The majority of I-278 is in New York City, where it serves as a partial beltway and passes through all five of the city's boroughs. I-278 follows several freeways, including the Union Freeway in Union County, New Jersey; the Staten Island Expressway (SIE) across Staten Island; the Gowanus Expressway in southern Brooklyn; the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway (BQE) across northern Brooklyn and Queens; a small part of the Grand Central Parkway in Queens; and a part of the Bruckner Expressway in the Bronx. I-278 also crosses multiple bridges, including the Goethals, Verrazzano-Narrows, Kosciuszko, and Robert F. Kennedy bridges.
The Staten Island Railway (SIR) is a rapid transit line in the New York City borough of Staten Island. It is owned by the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (SIRTOA), a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and operated by the New York City Transit Authority Department of Subways. SIR operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, providing local service between St. George and Tottenville, along the east side of the island. There is currently only one line on the island, and there is no direct rail link between the SIR and the New York City Subway system, but SIR riders do receive a free transfer to New York City Transit bus and subway lines, and the line is included on official New York City Subway maps. Commuters on the railway typically use the Staten Island Ferry to reach Manhattan. The line is accessible from within the Ferry Terminal, and most of its trains are timed to connect with the ferry. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 6,151,400, or about 17,900 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.
Park Avenue is a boulevard in New York City that carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenue to the east. Park Avenue's entire length was formerly called Fourth Avenue; the title still applies to the section between Cooper Square and 14th Street. The avenue is called Union Square East between 14th and 17th Streets, and Park Avenue South between 17th and 32nd Streets.
The Bayonne Bridge is an arch bridge that spans the Kill Van Kull between Staten Island, New York and Bayonne, New Jersey. It carries New York State Route 440 and New Jersey Route 440, with the two roads connecting at the state border at the river’s center. It has the sixth-longest steel arch mainspan in the world, and this span was the longest in the world at the time of its completion. The bridge is also one of four connecting New Jersey with Staten Island; the other two roadway bridges are the Goethals Bridge in Elizabeth and Outerbridge Crossing in Perth Amboy, and the rail-only span is the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge, all of which cross the Arthur Kill.
The Joe DiMaggio Highway, commonly called the West Side Highway and formerly the Miller Highway, is a 5.42-mile-long (8.72 km) mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A (NY 9A), running from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern tip of Manhattan in New York City. It replaced the West Side Elevated Highway, built between 1929 and 1951, which was shut down in 1973 due to neglect and lack of maintenance, and was dismantled by 1989. North of 72nd Street the roadway continues north as the Henry Hudson Parkway.
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system that serves four of the five boroughs of New York City, New York: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. Its operator is the New York City Transit Authority, which is itself controlled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York. In 2015, an average of 5.65 million passengers used the system daily, making it the busiest rapid transit system in the United States and the 11th busiest in the world.
A pedestrian scramble is a type of traffic signal movement that temporarily stops all vehicular traffic, thereby allowing pedestrians to cross an intersection in every direction, including diagonally, at the same time.
Queens Boulevard is a major thoroughfare connecting Midtown Manhattan, via the Queensboro Bridge, to Jamaica in Queens, New York City, United States. It is 7.5 miles (12.1 km) long and forms part of New York State Route 25.
The transportation system of New York City is a network of complex infrastructural systems. New York City, being the most populous city in the United States, has a transportation system which includes one of the largest and busiest subway systems in the world; the world's first mechanically ventilated vehicular tunnel; and an aerial tramway. New York City is home to an extensive bus system in each of the five boroughs; citywide and Staten Island ferry systems; and numerous yellow taxis and boro taxis throughout the city. Private cars are less used compared to other cities in the rest of the United States.
The Kosciuszko Bridge, originally known as the Meeker Avenue Bridge, is a cable-stayed bridge over Newtown Creek in New York City, connecting Greenpoint in Brooklyn to Maspeth in Queens. The bridge consists of a pair of cable-stayed bridge spans: the eastbound span opened in April 2017, while the westbound span opened in August 2019. An older bridge, a truss bridge of the same name that was located on the site of the westbound cable-stayed span, was originally opened in 1939 and was closed and demolished in 2017. The crossing is part of the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway (BQE), which carries Interstate 278.
Iris Weinshall is the chief operating officer of The New York Public Library, former vice chancellor at the City University of New York and a former commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation. Weinshall was appointed Chief Operating Officer by the Library in July 2014, and she began her tenure on September 1, 2014. She is the wife of U.S. Senator and Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer.
Ocean Parkway is a 4.86-mile-long (7.82 km) boulevard in the west-central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is inventoried by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) as New York State Route 908H (NY 908H), an unsigned reference route. The parkway is a New York City scenic landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Wards Island Bridge, also known as the 103rd Street Footbridge, is a bridge crossing the Harlem River between Manhattan Island and Wards Island in the Manhattan borough of New York City that does not allow vehicular traffic. The vertical lift bridge has a total of twelve spans consisting of steel towers and girders. It carries only pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
Eastern Parkway is a major east–west boulevard in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, it was built between 1870 and 1874 and has been credited as the world's first parkway. At the time of its construction, Eastern Parkway went to the eastern edge of Brooklyn, hence its name.
Cycling in New York City is associated with mixed cycling conditions that include dense urban proximities, relatively flat terrain, congested roadways with stop-and-go traffic, and streets with heavy pedestrian activity. The city's large cycling population includes utility cyclists, such as delivery and messenger services; cycling clubs for recreational cyclists; and increasingly commuters. Cycling is increasingly popular in New York City; in 2018 there were approximately 510,000 daily bike trips, compared with 170,000 daily bike trips in 2005.
MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO) is the surface transit division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). It was created in 2008 to consolidate all bus operations in New York City operated by the MTA. As of February 2018, MTA Regional Bus Operations runs 234 local routes, 71 express routes, and 20 Select Bus Service routes. Its fleet of 5,840 buses is the largest municipal bus fleet in the United States and operates 24/7. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 730,924,600, or about 2,427,700 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.
Since 1963, New York City has been using a system of bus lanes that are intended to give priority to buses, which contain more occupants than passenger and commercial vehicles. Most of these lanes are restricted to buses only at certain days and times, but some bus lanes are restricted 24/7. As of May 2021, there are 138.4 miles (222.7 km) of bus lanes within New York City.
Summer Streets is an annual event organized during the month of August in the streets of New York City since 2008. During the mornings of the first three Saturdays in August, 20 miles (32.2 km) of streets are open for walkers, runners, and cyclists and closed for motor vehicles. The event attracted 300,000 people in 2022.