This project focuses on developing a robust and versatile traffic network model for analyzing a wide range of transportation policies in New York City, particularly in Northern Manhattan. While the initial impetus for this project stemmed from concerns about the potential impacts of congestion pricing on neighborhoods adjacent to the Manhattan Central Business District (CBD), the model's design will allow for the evaluation of diverse transportation strategies beyond just pricing schemes. This comprehensive approach is crucial given the complex transportation challenges facing urban areas and the need for data-driven policy decisions. Northern Manhattan communities, already facing environmental burdens, serve as a critical case study for understanding the localized effects of transportation interventions. This project will leverage the Simulation of Urban Mobility (SUMO) software, a powerful tool for microscopic multi-modal traffic flow analysis, to achieve its objectives.

The development of sophisticated traffic simulation models is essential for evaluating the potential impacts of transportation policies before implementation. These models allow policymakers to explore various scenarios and optimize strategies to achieve desired outcomes. This project aims to create such a model, focusing on the area north of 125th Street in Manhattan, to analyze traffic flow, parking utilization, transit usage, and other key transportation metrics. 

Upon developing the traffic network, with local public agencies, we plan to analyze the impact of congestion pricing. New York City (NYC) has developed a congestion pricing plan to help reduce traffic and air pollution in Lower Manhattan and Midtown and generate revenue to improve transit service. At its current publicly released form, the NYC congestion pricing is set to charge a new toll for drivers below 60th Street, which is the Manhattan Central Business District (CBD). Although the literature on congestion pricing is rich in documenting the successes of road pricing policies in the cities where they have been implemented, there is a lack of comparable studies on their impact on regions outside of the tolled areas. Given the concerns about the potential for negative local impacts expressed by some residents of communities in neighborhoods outside the tolled CBD area, this project aims to conduct thorough analyses of the transportation conditions (including traffic flow, parking utilization, transit demand, and freight activity) in Northern Manhattan neighborhoods resulting from potential cordon pricing south of 60th Street.