EZ Pass Traffic Speed Readings for NYC Streets

EZ Pass readers across New York City boroughs collect median traffic speed data to inform street redesign and congestion management projects. The dataset contains records from April 8, 2021 to July 7, 2024, published by the City of New York's open data portal. It includes link-specific speed, travel time, and sample size metrics for traffic analysis.

Use Cases

• Model traffic speed patterns using median_speed_fps and median_tt_sec across different boroughs and link_name segments.
• Analyze the impact of traffic calming projects by correlating median_calculation_timestamp with changes in median_speed_fps for specific polyline locations.
• Assess data reliability for street segments by examining the n_samples column to filter out low-sample readings.
• Calculate network-level travel times by combining median_tt_sec and link_length_ft for different aggregation_period_sec intervals.

Strengths

• Data covers over three years of continuous measurements from April 2021 to July 2024.
• Includes geospatial polyline data for mapping traffic speeds to specific street segments.
• Provides multiple derived metrics per observation, including median speed, travel time, and sample count.

Limitations

• Unknown total row count and sample size limits statistical confidence assessment.
• Geographic coverage is limited to NYC, specifically areas with EZ Pass reader installations.
• Data freshness is unclear as the provided time range ends in July 2024.

Provenance

Source

data.cityofnewyork.us

Collection Method

Collected from EZ Pass reader devices installed on NYC streets.

Time Range

April 8, 2021 to July 7, 2024

Freshness

Data current through July 7, 2024, with a separate dataset for more recent records.

Geography

New York City, specifically streets with EZ Pass readers, including the Midtown Manhattan Central Business District.