Washington Heights

The Pratt Center has just released the Transportation Equity Atlas, a collection of downloadable maps showing commuting patterns and the length of rides to work for residents of a dozen low- and moderate-income neighborhoods in New York City, from East Flatbush to East Elmhurst to Washington Heights. The Atlas also shows where workers at major employment centers in the boroughs live, and how they get to work.

The Transportation Equity Atlas arrives just as the MTA announces fare hikes that add to the burden borne by low-income riders, who have already suffered the brunt of recent cutbacks in service.

Based on 2000 U.S. Census data, the Transportation Equity Atlas shows that even when the transit system had more frequent and extensive service, riders in the Atlas neighborhoods endured extremely long commutes to work. For example, more than half of subway riders in Soundview, in the Bronx, had rides of one hour or more.