New York is home to the most famous electrified transportation system in the United States. It’s true. During normal times, the New York City subway carries over 5.5 million riders on a typical workday, for a total of over 1.7 billion rides annually.
Our electric subway system clearly deserves credit for the fact that the average carbon footprint of a New York City resident is 6.1 metric tons – less than a third of the national average. Electric transportation is a climate win, and if you count the subway, the city is off to a great start.
However, New York still has a long way to go when it comes to electrifying the rest of the state’s transportation sector. Despite all those avoided car trips in the New York City metro area, transportation still accounts for 37% of the state’s total greenhouse gas footprint — a higher share of total emissions than for the U.S. as a whole (where transportation accounts for 28% of total emissions).
