Choked Streets Cost City $13B A Year: Report

By JEREMY OLSHAN
December 5, 2006

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Traffic congestion costs the city $13 billion and 52,000 jobs every year, according to a report released yesterday.

Clogged streets greatly contribute to the price of doing business in the city, costing industries from retail to construction millions of lost hours of productivity, said Kathryn Wylde, CEO of the Partnership for New York City, which commissioned the report.

"Left unchecked, excess congestion will stunt the economy's capacity for growth and innovation in the years ahead," she said.

The financial hit cuts across every industry, she said. Restaurants lose an estimated $213.5 million each year, compared to $405 million for the healthcare business and $2 billion in the manufacturing sector.

Opponents of congestion pricing questioned the study's methodology, and the motivation of its authors.

The research was conducted in part by transportation giant Parsons Brinckerhoff, a company that is involved in several major mass transit projects in the city.

"Traffic no doubt has an impact, but I don't know if it's as much as that," said former Councilman Walter McCaffrey, who is leading the opposition to the congestion pricing proposal.