Atlanta vs. NYC (Highways)

Atlanta vs. NYC

(Highways and Road Infrastructure)

Transportation in the US is a major concern for cities. How do they move people around in a fast and efficient manner? The most obvious choice are roads and highways more specifically. How should a city design its major road structure in order to minimize gridlock and decrease overall commute times? Which is better: Living in the city, or commuting to the city? Who will win: Atlanta or NYC?

Here we have New York City. It is planned around an island (Manhattan) with bridges connecting to an interlacing grid structure. Manhattan has many apartment complexes and suburbs for working citizens to live in with their work right outside their door. But for people living on the southern tip where their work is on the mainland, how well are the roads designed for them? Leaving all public transportation out of the question they have to drive to their work through a grid city. This type of city planning allows for a more intricate network of houses and roads, but as Susan Hanson observes in “The Context of Urban Travel”, more roads does not always ease congestion. In fact, when there are more roads, that is just room for more cars. Also, more roads in NYC means more lights to control traffic which causes the problem of grid lock. Grid lock is when the cars on the streets of NYC get locked in place due to lights and timings being just off with the flow of traffic. This causes commuters to wait upwards of 10-15 mins at one intersection when they have to go through at least 8-12 intersections to get to the major bridge to the mainland and their work. This can cause frustration, and relief via honking, shouting, tail bumping, and other not-so-good reputations that New Yorkers have earned themselves all in the name of road design. However, grid lock can be avoided by taking the right roads and navigating the intersections to minimize red lights.

Now we have Atlanta. This city is planned like a circle with major roads and highways intersecting the main portion of the city. This creates lots of exits and faster moving traffic, but less areas for living in the city. This in turn means more commuting for people working in the city. Also, the complexity of the roads system aside from the highways can make it difficult to navigate and control traffic flow. However, the majority of people that commute to Atlanta everyday from outside the city have to deal with one problem, congestion. Different than grid lock, congestion happens when there is an influx of cars and trucks (trucks definitely as their acceleration creates gaps in the traffic) from exits and entrances. This then causes traffic jams and a general slowness of travel. So, if someone lives 30-40 miles outside of Atlanta and commutes to work everyday when traffic is moving at an average 15-20 mph, this can lead to impatient drivers and accidents which cause more congestion. However, Atlanta has their own way to avoid congestion: communication. If one highways is filled up the communication to the drivers on the roads through radio and road sign alerts them to choose alternate routes, thus minimizing travel time.

So between the two cities there are semi-equal travel times and ways of fixing congestion and gridlock. NYC has less commuting as for distance to travel. Atlanta has commuters driving as far as 60-70 miles away just for work in the city. NYC has gridlock and waiting around. Atlanta has traffic jams and accidents. So which is truly better? A city of grief and boredom? Or a landscape that you get to watch slowly move by for hours on end? Traffic and congestion will always be a problem for cities no matter their design, but perhaps their public transportation throughout the city can help determine a winner: New York City or Atlanta?

Work Cited for this Blog:

Hanson, Susan. “The Context of Urban Travel.” The Geography of Urban

Transportation. 3rd ed. Eds. Susan Hanson and Genevieve Giuliano. New York:

Guilford, 2004. 3-29.