2001 motor vehicle crashes - New York Metropolitan Transportation ...

1 OVERVIEW
SAFETY ON THE HIGHWAY AND TRANSIT SYSTEMS
Transportation, by its nature, provides enhanced opportunities, but also risks, to those who travel. Safety for motor
vehicle, bicycle, pedestrian, and transit travel is the primary concern for operators of transportation facilities. One of
the Regional Transportation Plan’s goals is to improve the safety and security of the highway and mass transportation
systems and to minimize the risk of making trips in the New York metropolitan region. NYMTC is pleased to present the
fourth edition of the Transportation Safety Report. This report assesses crash trends between 1991 and 2001 in the
following counties: Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk, Westchester, and the City of New York.
The graphs and tables presented in this report contain data on motor vehicle crashes and resulting injuries, fatality data on
the road system by jurisdiction, and data on pedestrian fatalities. Table 1 presents total annual motor vehicle crashes for all
major vehicle types: Passenger Car, Motorcycle, Bus, Taxi, School Bus, Emergency Vehicle, Truck, Tractor Trailer, Towing
Vehicle, and Moped. Table A presents by county, the rankings of different types of motor vehicle crashes which occurred
throughout the New York Metropolitan region in 2001. Table B is a Regional Recapitulation for many of the tables in this
report. The Recapitulation shows the percent increase or decrease in these categories from 1999 to 2000 and from 2000 to
2001. This report also examines transit accident statistics on the subway, bus and commuter rail systems of the MTA from
1991 through 2001.
An examination of the graphs and tables will show that the number of motor vehicle crashes in the downstate, (New York
City plus the suburbs), trended downward between 1991 and 1997, but then increased significantly between 1998 and 2000
with a decrease again in 2001. These increases averaged 15.7 percent in 1999 over 1998 and a further 8.6 percent in 2000 over
1999 and a decrease of 11.7 in 2001 over 2000. The largest increase, 22.6 percent, was experienced in the suburbs from 1997
to 1998, while New York City recorded a 23.2 percent increase in 1999 over 1998. All counties experienced a decrease in
crashes in 2001 (Table 1). Due to a reporting and database change, most values for 2001 are considerably lower than 2000.
The MTA rail and bus divisions included in this report are:
MTA New York City Transit Subway
MTA Staten Island Railway
MTA Metro-North Railroad
MTA Long Island Rail Road
MTA New York City Transit Bus
MTA Long Island Bus
The MTA, which accounts for 97 percent of downstate New York transit ridership, has reported an average of 85 accidents
per year throughout the 1998-2001 period. There has been an average of 13 fatalities and 427 injuries per year for this 4-year
period. (See Table 47)
S A
F E
T Y
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