Sustainable WorkingCommute Modes in New York City Report by Reina Rivenska Dissa

Reina Dissa (rrd2147@columbia.edu)

Kania Ulfa (kau2102@columbia.edu

Research Questions

Which census tract has the lowest and highest carbon emissions when commuting to work?

What are the best commuting modes based on spending on transportation and emission per census tract?

1. The census tract with the lowest carbon emissions is located in Manhattan because it is covered by almost all public transportation modes provided in New York City.

2. The census tract that has the highest carbon emissions is located at the furthest point from Manhattan because more transportation modes are concentrated to reach Manhattan, not the otherwise.

3. Commuting by car emits higher carbon emissions than any other transportation mode.

4. Commuting by car costs more money than commuting using other transportation modes.

Means of transportation by selected characteristics (S02801)

Means of transportation (B08031)

Joining data frames on Geo ID setting Geometry of Census Tract joining means of transportation dataframe

We used 2022 ACS 5-Year Estimate Data: 1) Means of Transportation by selected characteristics (S02801) and Means of Transportation (B08031). We separated the process into Data Management and Data Analysis & Visualization. We started the process by joining data frames on Geo ID and setting up Geometry of the Census Tract. After that process, we joined a new data frame for the needed data and columns. To process the calculation, we calculated the average of means travel time using the modes of each interval.

After the data frame had been set, we did the next step: Data Analysis and Visualization. The ﬁrst calculation that we did was the emissions, and then we estimated the fare. We calculated the emission by multiplying the distance with the emission factors of each mode. We estimated the average distance travelled by using the means of travel time to work from the data frame.

We extracted the emissions for each mode, per trip per person, and total emissions for all transportation modes. From that, we could get the lowest and highest of each census tract for all transportation modes.

For the spending calculation, we divided it into two ways: ﬁrst, by fare per mile for cars, carpools, motorcycles, and taxis, while we used fare by trip for subway, bus, train, and ferry modes.

The last calculation we did for answering the research question is using MCDA - Weighted Sum to ﬁnd the lowest emissions X lowest spending and highest emissions x highest spending.

Calculation Method

We calculated the emissions and spending to these transportation modes: car, carpool of 2, 3, 4, 5-6, and 7 people, subway, long distance train, light rail, bicycle, walk, and ferry boat.

To calculate the emissions we use the following formulas;

To calculate spending, we use average fare or per trip spending as follow;

Car = $16.44

Bus = $2.90

Subway = $2.90

Long distance train = $30

Light rail = $2.25

The emissions factors that we used in this research are:

Car = 404 gCO2 /miles

Bus = 89 gCO2 /miles

Subway = 41 gCO2 /miles

Long distance train = 92 gCO2 /miles

Light rail = 41 gCO2 /miles

Ferry boat = 150 gCO2 /miles

Since the factors is in gCO2 /miles, we convert it to kg ﬁrst by divided the factors to 1000

Before we calculated the emission, we divided the emission factors by the average passengers of each mode to rationalize the emission factor for each worker.

The average number of passengers per mode:

Car = 1 (unless for carpool, we use per number of passenger)

Bus = 40

Subway = 100

Long distance train = 200

Light rail = 70

Ferry boat = 150

Ferry boat =$4.50 (fare per trip other than Staten Island and South Ferry route)

For traveling with car, we calculated from the average cost of owning a car in NYC per year ($12,000) and divided by 365 days to assume how much money they have to spend per day for traveling or owning a car, then divided by 2, assuming on weekdays they travel round trip only from their home to their oﬃces. If the workers carpooling to travel to work, the cost of owning a car in NYC per year is divided by the number of people in that carpooling.

The formula for calculating the spending per trip for each mode is:

To ﬁnd the best combination of transportation mode, we use weighted sum. But ﬁrst, we normalize the data for each travel mode. After that, we calculated with Weighted Sum. The weight that we use is 70% or 0.7 for emissions and 30% or 0.3 for spending.

Total Emission

(all transportation modes per census tract)

The map on the left shows the result of total emissions for all transportation modes per census tracts. We see the red-colored census tracts are estimated as emitting higher emissions than other census tracts. The highest census tract that emits higher emissions than other census tracts is located in Queens and Staten Island.

Total Emission

(all transportation modes per worker)

The map on the left is calculated for the total emission per worker for each census tract. The workers in Staten Island emit higher emissions than other boroughs, and workers in Manhattan emit lower emissions on average.

To get the reason why the emission is higher in certain boroughs than any borough or vice versa, we have to research further and see the data at a more granular level and overlay it with other data, such as subway and bus maps, to see the availability of transportation modes in each census tract.

To see which census tracts emit higher emissions than other census tracts, we created a table on the right. Among ﬁve boroughs in NYC, the top 10 census tracts that emit the highest emissions are located in Queens and Staten Island. The high emission result caused by the higher number of workers that participated in census are located there compared to the other census tracts. However, the result is also caused by the transportation modes they are using for commuting.

Top 10 Census Tract - Highest Emission

The Table on the left shows which census tracts emit the lowest emissions among all census tracts in NYC. The main factor of lower emissions they emit is because the number of workers in each census tract is signiﬁcantly lower than other census tracts. From this table alone, we cannot conclude that these tracts emit lower emissions because of the transportation modes they are using.

Top 10 Census Tract with Lowest Emission

Total Emissions of Census Tract

Total Spending on Work Commuting

(all transportation modes)

The map on the left shows the total spending on work commuting for all transportation modes. The census tract that spends a large sum of money on commuting to work is colored in yellow. Manhattan, on average, spends less money on commuting than other boroughs, while Staten Island, on average, spends more money on commuting.

The table on the left shows which census tracts spend more commuting to work. The total spending on work commuting is per trip per census tract. From our calculations, the top 10 census tracts that spend more commuting are in Queens, Staten Island, and Bronx Borough. The main factor of higher spending is that the number of workers is higher than in any other borough. However, if we compare this table with the “Top 10 Census Tract - Highest Emission’ on page 8, the result is different; therefore, it shows that the number of workers is not solely causing the higher spending in these census tracts but can be the transportation mode that they are using to commute causing them spending higher amount of money.

Top 10 Census Tract - Highest Spending

MCDA: Lowest Emission X Lowest Spending

The map on the left shows the transportation mode option for each census tract that emits lower emissions and a lower amount of money to commute. The results vary from public transportation to their own vehicles. The result is that carpooling can be an option to spend lower and emit lower emissions; however, this result can be biased because in this research, we assume the fare or fee on using a car based on the average cost of owning a car in NYC yearly.

Also, this result is biased because the result is affected by the low number of workers for certain transportation modes; therefore, we cannot conclude that these transportation modes in each census tract may be the best one. To refine this result, researchers should find the transportation distribution first rather than using the classification from the distribution to calculate the MCDA.

MCDA: Highest Emission X Highest Spending

The map on the left shows the transportation mode that emits higher emissions and causes higher spending for each census tract. The results are varied; however, on average, cars are the highest emission and highest spending transportation mode.

This result can be biased because the result is affected by the high number of workers for specific transportation modes; therefore, we cannot conclude that these modes in each census tract may be the worst. To refine this result, researchers should find the transportation distribution first rather than using the classification from the distribution to calculate the MCDA.

Total Spending of Census Tract

(per transportation mode)

1. The census tract with the highest carbon emissions are predominantly located in Queens and Staten Island. This is attributed to a combination of factors, including a higher number of workers commuting from these areas and the reliance on less sustainable modes of transportation, particularly personal vehicles.

2. Similar trends were observed in the analysis of commuting costs. The highest spending on transportation was also noted in Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx, indicating that economic factors are closely tied to commuting patterns.

3. The data suggests that commuting by car results in higher emissions and costs compared to public transportation options. However, while carpooling emerged as a potentially more sustainable option , the analysis indicates that further research is necessary to reﬁne these conclusions due to potential biases from low worker counts in certain modes.

Recommendations for future studies, should consider:

1. Conducting more granular analyses that overlay transportation availability with demographic data to better understand commuting behaviors .

2. Investigating the impact of speciﬁc transportation modes on emissions and costs at a more localized level.

3. Expanding the dataset to include additional variables such as travel pattern and frequency of use of transportation to provide a comprehensive view of commuting patterns.

1. American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimate Detailed Table on “Means of Transportation to Work” in 2022, for all census tracts in New York County, Bronx County, Queens County, Kings County, and Richmond County, NY.

U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce. (2023). Means of Transportation to Work. American Community Survey, ACS 5-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Table B08301. Retrieved November 29, 2024, from https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2023.B08301?q=B08301&g=050XX00US36005$1400000,36047$1400000,36061$1400000 ,36081$1400000,36085$1400000.

2. American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimate Detailed Table on “Means of Transportation to Work by Selected Characteristics” in 2022, for all census tracts in New York County, Bronx County, Queens County, Kings County, and Richmond County, NY.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2023). Means of Transportation to Work by Selected Characteristics. American Community Survey, ACS 5-Year Estimates Subject Tables, Table S0802. Retrieved November 29, 2024, from https://data.census.gov/table/ACSST5Y2023.S0802?q=S0802&g=050XX00US36005$1400000,36047$1400000,36061$1400000,36 081$1400000,36085$1400000.

3. Estimated average annual cost of car ownership per year - US$12,000 including buying, ﬁnancing, insurance, and maintenance (Carrns, 2023).

4. Carrns, A. (2023, September 22). The Rising Costs of Owning a Car. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/22/your-money/car-ownership-costs-increase.html