Anti-Car Pool Study by Garage Owners is "False and Misleading," Groups Charge

A recent anti-Car Pool Rule study by parking garage owners is "false and misleading," according to an analysis released today by two transportation advocacy groups and Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union.

Under the rule, "single occupant vehicles" cannot use bridge and tunnel crossings into Manhattan below 62nd Street between 6 am and 10 am on weekdays. ( See attached analysis.)

The detailed analysis-sponsored by Transportation Alternatives and NYPIRG's Straphangers Campaign - shows that the Car Pool Rule is responsible for just 6.7% of the post-September 11th decline in the number of people entering the central business district between 6am to 11am.

A recent study by the Metropolitan Parking Association had attributed a loss of 189,687 people daily due to the Car Pool Rule, with great resulting damage to the city's economy. But the analysis released by transit groups and the TWU today shows that only 12,709 of the 189,687 can fairly be attributed to the impact of the rule. The group's report finds that a significant number of motorists who previously drove alone into Manhattan's Central Business District are carpooling or have switched to rail, subway and ferry since the rule took effect.

"The garage industry's report wildly misrepresents the impact of the Car Pool Rule," said Gene Russianoff, senior attorney for the Straphangers Campaign.

"The Car Pool Rule is not hurting business, it's helping to get more people to use transit and commuter rail," said Roger Toussaint, president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union. "Less traffic and transit service improvements are the real future for New York.""

The report by the garage owners contains major false claims regarding the Car Pool Rule:

• False Claim: The rule caused motorists to stop using the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel
• Fact: The Tunnel is closed to all motorists between 6 am and 8 pm because it is too close to Ground Zero. (As a result, the garage owners incorrectly include 42,008 people in their 189,687 total-or 22% of those no longer entering the CBD.)
  
• False Claim: The rule kept motorists from entering Manhattan from north of 63rd Street.
• Fact: Bridges north of 63rd St. are not effected by the rule. (As a result, the garage owners incorrectly include 60,012 people in their 189,687 total-or 32% of those no longer entering CBD.)
  
• False Claim: The Rule kept motorists from entering after the Rule ends at 10 a.m., incorrectly including 74,922 people in their 189,687 total-or 39% of those no longer entering CBD.)

"The Car Pool Rule is working to keep traffic --- and the economy moving. It should be kept in place until a better solution is available," said John Kaehny, executive director of Transportation Alternatives. "It's time for critics to put up, or shut up. What's their solution to massive traffic congestion?"

The analysis released by the groups today concludes that "there is no documentation that the Car Pool Rule has in any way discouraged people from entering Manhattan," noting:

• The vast majority of people coming into Manhattan from 6-10 a.m. when the Car Pool Rule is in effect travel by bus, subway and rail, and are thus unaffected by the rule.
• Declines in the number of people entering Manhattan at most East River crossings are lower during the 6-10 a.m. time period than at other times, the opposite of what should occur if the Car Pool Rule were discouraging people from coming to Manhattan.
• Only one East River crossing - the Queens Midtown Tunnel - shows a greater decline in persons entering during 6-10 a.m. than at other times. However, this is entirely offset by increases in Long Island Rail Road ridership, suggesting that auto users may have switched to the LIRR.
• Subway ridership has fallen less quickly than auto travel into the Manhattan CBD, also suggesting that some auto users have switched to transit.

The report released today was drafted by Bruce Schaller, a widely-respected analyst who has worked for the New York City Transit Authority and the Taxi and Limousine Commission.

The groups noted that the City Department of Transportation was soon due to release its own study of the impact of the Car Pool Rule.