New York City's Green Dividend

When does a bike lane become an economic stimulus?  When it's part of an alternative transportation system that puts $19 billion into New York City's economy each year.

Because New Yorkers drive substantially less than the average American, they realize a staggering $19 billion in savings each year — money that their counterparts in other large U.S. metro areas spend on auto-related expenses. This is the principal finding of New York City’s Green Dividend, a report by CEOs for Cities for the New York City Department of Transportation.

New York City’s Green Dividend is based on a conservative calculation of the average cost of operating an automobile. The average New Yorker drives 9 miles per day.  That’s 16 miles fewer per day than the average resident of the largest U.S. metros.  At 40 cents per mile, New Yorkers are collectively saving a staggering $19 billion on auto-related expenses. 

An extensive transit system and walkable urban environment allow two-thirds of New Yorkers to commute to work without a car, the highest fraction of any large city in the U.S. New Yorkers also boast much lower rates of car ownership.  They own fewer than a third as many cars per capita than the average U.S. urban resident. If New Yorkers drove as much as the average resident of one of the nation’s largest metro areas, the city would have 4.5 million more cars. To store just the additional vehicles would require a parking lot the size of Manhattan. 

You can download a full copy of the report in the box on the left. 

Want to know your city's Green Dividend? Contact Julia Klaiber at 202-525-5627.