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Figure 1 depicts the percent of each County’s population in 1950, 1970, and 1990 from census data. As of 1990, Long Island’s population is 2.6 million.
- Nassau County’s population peaked at 1.428 million in 1970. According to the 1990 census,
Nassau’s population has declined by 141,490 or 9.9 percent.
- Nassau’s population density (people per acre) of 4,630 trails only the five New York City counties. Suffolk County ranks eighth in the State at 1,451 people per square mile.
- Currently, in Suffolk County, 71.6 percent of the residents work in the county. The percentage in Nassau County is 59.5 percent.
- In 1960, 63 percent of Long Islanders worked on Long Island; by 1990 the percentage had grown to 76.7 percent.
- Of the 215,320 Nassau County residents who work outside of Long Island, 201,130, or 93.4 percent, work in New York City.
Demographics and Journey-to-Work Information
- Travel to and from work accounts for most recurring traffic congestion on Long Island because so many trips are concentrated during a few hours. About 950,000 residents of Nassau and Suffolk travel to work in single-occupancy vehicles; 130,000 travel in carpools; another 138,000 Long Islanders use public transit to get to work; this includes the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), which carries about 100,000 commuters from Long Island to work in Manhattan. Approximately 48,000 residents use other means.
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1990 mode share data indicates the following: drive alone, 68 percent in Nassau and 78 percent in Suffolk; carpool, 9-10 percent in each; bus, 3 percent in Nassau and 1 percent in Suffolk; rail, 12 percent in Nassau and 6 percent in Suffolk; work at home, 2 percent.
- Average Passenger Occupancy (APO) for companies with more than 100 employees: 1.28 in Nassau, 1.22 in Suffolk. The Employee Commute Option (ECO) target was 1.48.
- Analysis of a January 1997 survey indicates that more than 10,000 Long Islanders have decided to start sharing rides for some of their trips so they can use the Long Island Expressway (LIE) high-occupancy vehicle lanes between Exits 49 and 57.
- If one third of everyone who drives alone to work would carpool one day a week, approximately 25% of the current traffic congestion would be eliminated.
- Figure 3 indicates that approximately 80 percent (807,763) of all intra-Island journey-to-work trips by auto were single-occupant vehicles (SOVs). Less than 10 percent (95,562) of the same travelers completed the same trip in a 2 - 5 person carpool.
| Long Island 1990 Census Journey-to-Work Auto Trips |
| From Long Island To: |
Drive Alone |
2-5 Person Carpool |
6+ Person Carpool |
Total in Carpools |
Taxi |
Total |
| Suffolk County |
679,835 |
81,163 |
916 |
82,079 |
2,655 |
846,648 |
| Nassau County |
127,928 |
14,399 |
356 |
14,755 |
113 |
157,551 |
| Long Island Total |
807,763 |
95,562 |
1,272 |
96,834 |
2,768 |
1,004,199 |
Source: New York Metropolitan Transportation Council
Figure 3 |
According to 1980 Census data shown in Figure 4, a total of 606,209 Long Island travelers drove to work alone. This figure increased to 807,763 (an increase more than 30 percent) in 1990.
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Long Island 1980 Census Journey-to-Work Trips
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| From Long Island To |
Drive Alone
|
Total in Carpools
|
Taxi
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Total
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| Suffolk County |
516,829
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118,137
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2,584
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637,550
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| Nassau County |
89,380
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27,750
|
84
|
117,214
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| Long Island Total |
606,209
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145,887
|
2,668
|
754,764
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Source: New York Metropolitan Transportation Council
Figure 4
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- Twenty percent of Nassau residents travel more than an hour to work, 14 percent of Suffolk residents, and just 6 percent nationally.
Source: NYS Department of Economic Development
Figure 5
- Nassau County residents’ average time of 31 minutes for their journey-to-work is the sixth longest in the State, behind four of the New York City boroughs.
Top work locations for employers with more than 100 employees: Mineola and Garden City (29,000); Hicksville, Syosset, Jericho, Woodbury, Plainview, Bethpage (29,000); Great Neck, Manhasset, Port Washington (15,000); Melville, Hauppauge, Huntington Station, Farmingdale (32,000).
Source: NYS Department of Transportation
Figure 6
- Figure 6, above, depicts the total employment for Long Island between 1980 and 1995.
- The number of working residents in Nassau County increased by 183,997 since 1960 (39.4 percent) – three times the state average – despite a decline in population.
Households by Vehicles Available
 
Source: 1990 Census Demographic Data
Figure 7
- About 93 percent of the households on Long Island have at least one vehicle available.
- While Long Island’s resident population has grown by only 2% since 1970, the number of registered vehicles has risen nearly 60% and the vehicle-miles traveled on Long Island have more than doubled. Since the mid-1970’s, Nassau and Suffolk (or vice versa) have ranked first and second in the number of vehicle registrations in New York State.
- Between 1960 and 1990, the number of vehicles registered by residents in Suffolk County increased by 295 percent, and in Nassau County by 91 percent. During the same period, the total number of vehicles registered on Long Island increased by 163 percent.
Source: NYS Department of Motor Vehicles
Figure 8
- The state highway system on Long Island comprises about 720 centerline miles within Nassau and Suffolk Counties. This compares to a total of 10,619 centerline miles of county, town and village-owned roads. However, the state highway system accommodates one-half of all vehicle travel on Long Island.
- Suffolk County has 63.8 percent or 7,229 miles of the total highway mileage on Long Island.
- Between 1980 and 1990 the number of people driving alone to work on Long Island increased by 225,877. In Suffolk County, the increase in single-occupant vehicles (153,026) was greater than the rise in workers (126,582) -- the percentage increase was 43.2 percent.
Public Transportation
- Between 1975 and 1985, the four largest bus operators on Long Island experienced ridership increases, but ridership started to decrease in 1985. However, ridership on Suffolk County Transit increased by 31.5 percent between 1992 and 1997.
Source: 1996 National Transit Database (Section 15 Reports) Form
Figure 9
Sources: NYS Department of Transportation, Transit Division
and MTA Long Island Rail Road
Figure. 10
- Figure 10 depicts the changes in ridership on Long Island’s major transportation facilities over a 20 year period.
Cargo
- According to the New York Downstate Rail Freight Study (March 1995), annual LIRR freight rail traffic has declined from 55,000 carloads in 1975 to approximately 12,000 in 1995. Other downstate railroads either halted freight service or experienced significant declines.
- Much warehouse/distribution activity and intermodal trailer/container traffic takes place in New Jersey, and goods are then trucked onto Long Island.
- According to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council Freight Facilities and Systems Inventory, the annual amount of freight moved via the airports increased from 640,000 tons in 1980 to 2.3 million tons in 1993.
- Rail intermodal shipping generated 16 percent of total rail revenue in 1991.
- According to the New York Downstate Rail Freight Study, the total downstate market size is 90.6 million tons of freight. in the following commodities: 19.9 million tons food, 13.8 million tons waste, 11.2 million tons chemicals and hazardous materials, 6.3 million tons paper, 34.9 million tons of minerals and metals, and 4.5 million tons of other commodities. Rail carries only 3 percent of this freight. 22.9 million tons of this freight is considered divertible to rail, 8.8 million tons from Nassau and Suffolk Counties alone.
Source: New York Downstate Rail Freight Study
Figure 11
Forecasts for Long Island
The information in this section provides a comparison between 1995 data and the projected 2020 study forecasts.
- In Nassau County the number of households is expected to grow by 20 percent, and employment is projected to grow by 18 percent.
- The number of households in Suffolk County is expected to increase by 35 percent, and employment by 41 percent.
- Without further investments in Long Island’s transportation system and improved management of travel demand, the following indicators of increased traffic congestion are projected for the year 2020:
- Person Hours of Delay (Auto):??148%?increase
- Vehicle Miles of Travel:?? 29%?increase
- Vehicle Hours Delay:???136%?increase
- Congested Lane Miles:??? 70%?increase
- Average Travel Speed:??? -17%?decrease
Person Hours of Travel Delay
Source: LITP TRANPLAN Highway Model Results
Figure 12
- The following increases in Person Hours of Travel Delay are projected for the AM and PM peak hours between 1995 and 2020:
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Person Hours of Travel Delay
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AM
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PM
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| Nassau |
144%
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120%
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| Suffolk |
171%
|
163%
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| Total |
157%
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139%
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Vehicle Miles Traveled
Source: LITP TRANPLAN Highway Model Results
Figure 13
- The following increases in Vehicle Miles Traveled are projected for the AM and PM peak hours between 1995 and 2020:
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Vehicle Miles Traveled
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AM
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PM
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| Nassau |
24%
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20%
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| Suffolk |
35%
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34%
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| Total |
29%
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28%
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Congested Lane Miles
Source: LITP TRANPLAN Highway Model Results
Figure 14
- The following increases in Congested Lane Miles are projected for the AM and PM peak hours between 1995 and 2020:
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Congested Lane Miles
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AM
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PM
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| Nassau |
71%
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77%
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| Suffolk |
78%
|
61%
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| Total |
75%
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66%
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Average Person Travel Speed
Source: LITP TRANPLAN Highway Model Results
Figure 15
Vehicle Hours of Delay
Source: LITP TRANPLAN Highway Model Results
Figure 16
- The following increases in Vehicle Miles of Delay are projected for the AM and PM peak hours between 1995 and 2020:
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Vehicle Hours of Delay
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AM
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PM
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| Nassau |
136%
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113%
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| Suffolk |
154%
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146%
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| Total |
145%
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128%
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