Image: NYC DOT

Image: NYC DOT

The New York City Department of Transportation has released statistics on transportation in the city. The 2009 numbers aren't all in, so the most recent full year is 2008, but the trends are encouraging and it looks like all the improvements the city has made to its infrastructure and the efforts of green urbanism activists are paying off.

It looks like all the recent growth in travel was absorbed by transit and cycling/walking, and this can't all be blamed on the recession since this was the trend many years before we even heard about sub-prime mortgages and Lehmans Brothers.

The DOT report says: "This was the first period since the Second World War that non-auto modes fully absorbed all growth in travel in the city, producing a period of fully transit-centered economic and population growth." and "More recent data suggest that while transportation patterns were significantly affected by the recession in 2009, there is no evidence of a shift back toward increased auto use."

Bicycle commuting is up substantially (we posted some 2009 numbers here), and if NYC keeps investing in safe bike paths, it should just be the beginning.

Via NYC DOT, Streetsblog

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