New model shows small NY mobility hubs are cutting car trips and boosting transit, even with sparse data

University of Albany Downtown Campus pilot mobility hub. Credit: CDTA

Two pilot mobility hubs in New York's Capital District are nudging commuters out of their cars and onto buses, bikes and car-share vehicles, according to a new analysis from NYU Tandon's C2SMART transportation research center.

But the same model suggests these demonstration hubs aren't necessarily located where they'd do the most good.

The hubs, one near UAlbany's downtown campus and the other in downtown Cohoes, work like transfer points, providing a bus stop paired with a shared bike dock that lets riders switch modes midtrip instead of driving door to door. The Cohoes hub also offers car-share parking, a service not available at the UAlbany site.

The Tandon researchers estimate the hubs are cutting more than 75 vehicle miles (121 kilometers) driven each day and about 11 metric tons (12 tons) of carbon a year, roughly what two households produce annually. Riders pair two modes per trip, often combining a bus, bike-share or walking leg with another mode, rather than driving or carpooling the whole way.