Damn Bayside Drivers . . . Damn Government Employees!

A new survey shows some surprising details about car use in the city:

It’s a common enough thought among city drivers inching through traffic: Everyone around me came from the suburbs, making my life miserable. But it’s wrong, because more than half the drivers who crowd into Manhattan each workday come from the five boroughs.

That is only one fact about traffic in New York City that may surprise some people. For example, 35 percent of government workers drive to work, many because they have free parking. Also, one in five drivers entering the busiest parts of Manhattan are only passing through, on their way somewhere else.

Then again, maybe it’s not all that surprising:

When plotted on a map, the data make a striking picture, showing that some of the densest concentrations of auto commuters are from the outer fringes of Queens and Brooklyn, where access to subways is limited.

“The concentration of auto commuters is in areas that don’t have direct subway service,” Mr. Schaller said. “So the travel time advantage of driving is greater than it is in the rest of the city.”