ABSTRACT
Unlike the Bosporus, the East and Harlem Rivers are crossed every day to employment centers in Manhattan not only by automobiles but by 13 different metro tunnels that carry 2.3 million passengers a day. In addition, 232,000 passengers travel to Manhattan by commuter rail every day from the suburbs of Westchester and Long Island, and 200,000 passenger trips a day from the adjacent states of New Jersey and Connecticut (464,000 passenger trips per day). To provide the proper distribution of 24 different metro routes, in addition to the 13 rail tunnels, and 4 rail bridges within the city limits, the system makes use of 2 rail tunnels under the Harlem and Hudson Rivers. Interestingly, with the exception of the 63rd Street Tunnel (completed in 1972), there has been no new infrastructure added to the New York City transit system in the last 50 years. This demonstrates how well the original planning was prepared to be able to maintain 90% efficiency for the last 90 years. The man with the vision to start the metro planning in 1883 was William Barclay Parsons, who became the chief engineer of the New York City Metro and later the founding father of Parsons Brinckerhoff in 1885.
