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How NYC Uses Its Curb Space

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data.nycuriosity.com › Mamdani's First 100 Days › NYC Curb Allocation
Transportation April 2026

How NYC Uses Its Curb Space

NYC has roughly 12,000 linear miles of curb, and about 62% of it is dedicated to storing cars. Only 5% supports protected bike or bus infrastructure. Incoming DOT Chief Strategy Officer Tiffany-Ann Taylor will be managing this real estate. Every new bike lane or bus lane is, in practice, a conversion of parking into something else.

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62%
of curb space dedicated to car storage (free + metered parking)
5%
of curb space used for protected bike lanes + bus lanes
~12,000
total linear curb miles (both sides of ~6,300 centerline miles)

Car storage takes 62% of New York's curb space, and bike and bus lanes take 5%

Share of roughly 12,000 linear curb miles, both sides of every street, by use. Percentages are citywide averages and shift by time of day, since commercial loading zones become parking overnight.

Source: NYC DOT Curb Management Strategy (2021) and related DOT data Note: 12,000 miles is a round-number baseline for the roughly 6,300 centerline miles of city street. Category shares are estimates.

Total curb mileage: NYC has approximately 6,300 centerline miles of streets (NYC DOT). On both sides, this yields roughly 12,000–12,600 linear curb miles. This visualization uses 12,000 miles as a round-number baseline.

Allocation estimates: Category breakdowns are based on the NYC DOT Curb Management Strategy (2021) and related DOT data. These are city-wide averages; actual allocation varies by neighborhood and changes by time of day (e.g., commercial loading zones become parking overnight).

Protected bike lanes (~3%): NYC had approximately 387 miles of protected bike lanes as of 2024 (NYC DOT Record of Accomplishment). As one-way infrastructure, this represents roughly 3% of total curb mileage.

Dedicated bus lanes (~2%): NYC had approximately 68 miles of dedicated bus lanes as of 2024. These run in the curb lane and are counted here as active transit infrastructure.

Free vs. metered parking: The majority of NYC parking is free and unregulated, roughly 54% of all curb. Only ~8% is metered. The DOT Curb Management Strategy documented the dominant role of unmetered parking as a first step toward rethinking how curb space is allocated.