New York
New York, often referred to as New York State to distinguish it from New York City, is in the northeastern United States. New York encompasses 49,576 square miles and ranks as the 27th largest state by size, yet it is the nation’s third most populous state with a population of 19,541,453 (U.S. Census 2009). Albany is the state capital.
New York’s largest city is New York City, the most populous city in the United States with a population of 8,214,426 (U.S. Census 2008). In contrast to New York City’s densely populated urban atmosphere, the majority of New York State is rural, dominated by forests, rivers, mountains, and lakes. Among New York’s other major cities, in order of population, are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, Syracuse, Albany, New Rochelle, Mt. Vernon, Schenectady, and Utica. These cities are located along the early 1800s transportation routes of New York, primarily the Erie Canal and the railroads paralleling the canal.
New York State is commonly divided into regions, each with a distinct character: Metro New York, the Catskills, the Hudson Valley, the Adirondacks, the North Country, Central New York, the Finger Lakes, the Southern Tier, and the Niagara Frontier.
International travel in New York is primarily accommodated at New York City’s three major airports: John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. Upstate New York international airports include the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, the Greater Rochester International Airport, the Syracuse Hancock International Airport, and the Albany International Airport.
New York is a strategic national center of distribution-related activity because of New York’s location within the largest concentration of population and wealth in North America. Many leading manufacturers and retailers have significant distribution activities within New York State. These include IBM, United Parcel Service, Wal-Mart, Pfizer, Carrier, Simon and Schuster, Corning, Inc., Fujifilm, and Yellow Freight.
The New York State Thruway is the most important highway in New York. The Thruway runs on “>Interstate 90 from the Pennsylvania border to Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany. Interstate 90 continues to Boston, while the Thruway merges with Interstate 87, south to New York City. The Thruway, a toll road for most of its length, is the primary route between the major upstate cities and is often used to get to and from New York City.
According to a I-90 Corridor Study by the New York State Department of Transportation, much of the commercial traffic in the I-90 corridor is tied to the economic centers at the ends of the corridor: Toronto, Boston, and to a lesser extent, New York City. The I-90 Corridor has seen significant increases in the volume of freight traveling on its roads with all regions along the I-90 Corridor reporting increased truck traffic.
The impact of commercial, heavy truck traffic through community traffic routes is acute in upstate New York. On June 10, 2008, NYSDOT announced a proposed statewide regulation aimed at reducing large through-truck traffic. The proposal sought to ban all local truck traffic on seven secondary roads in upstate New York. The proposed legislation would prohibit trucks using local state roads as a shortcut through the region. According to NY Senator Charles E. Schumer, trucks hauling trash from New York City have been utilizing local roads that cut through small towns and communities, creating significant safety concerns. Truck traffic is a serious concern in New York City, where trucks are the fastest growing segment of traffic, posing serious risks to pedestrian safety.
New York State’s 2009 Highway Safety Annual Report states that for the past two decades, New York has made significant strides in highway safety, reducing motor vehicle fatalities by 46% between 1989 and 2008. The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles reports 12,546 accidents in New York in 2008 involving large trucks, with 105 of those accidents involving fatalities. These statistics include large trucks involved in accidents with other vehicles, large truck and pedestrian accidents, tractor-trailer and bicycle accidents, and semi-truck and motorcycle accidents.
According to the New York Bureau of Transportation Statistics, truck drivers recorded over 73,000 ton-miles (in millions) in 2009. The New York Department of Motor Vehicles reported 11,100 large truck accidents in the same year. Of the total number of truck accidents, 9,829 were police reported. Almost 64% of these accidents involved property damage, and approximately 36% resulted in injuries of either a serious, moderate, minor, or an unknown nature. One percent of all truck accidents resulted in a fatality, which included drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and bicyclists. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2008, almost 3% of the large trucks involve in fatal crashes were from New York.
Truck accidents in New York had a number of contributing factors related to the crash. Top human factors included driver inattention or distraction, following too closely, and passing or improper lane usage. Vehicular problems or failure was also sometimes to blame and included factors such as defective brakes, oversized vehicles, and inadequate tires. Environmental factors were also recorded in the Department’s statistics with slippery pavement involved in nearly 10% of truck accidents.
