Bridge and tunnel crossings to and from Manhattan’s Congestion Relief Zone (CRZ) by car decreased across the board during the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, according to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council’s (NYMTC) Travel Patterns Report for the 4th quarter of 2025.

NYMTC’s quarterly Travel Patterns Report provides a snapshot of travel activity throughout New York City, Long Island, the Lower Hudson Valley, and northern New Jersey using data collected from the agencies operating the region’s bridges, tunnels, and public transit systems.

Congestion Relief Zone Paying Off

Among the crossings serving Manhattan’s CRZ, the Ed Koch Queensborough Bridge reported the sharpest traffic decline at -23.2% when compared to the same period in 2024. That was followed by the Manhattan Bridge, which experienced a -11.1% decrease; the Lincoln Tunnel, which fell 5.2%; and the Williamsburg Bridge, which lost 3.6% of its vehicle volume. 

Outside of the CRZ, the most notable increases in vehicular traffic were at the Atlantic Beach Bridge (5%) and the Bear Mountain Bridge (4.7%).

Public transit ridership across the NYMTC region continued its gradual recovery during the fourth quarter of 2025, increasing by 1.1% compared with the same period in 2024.  Among the biggest gainers were Rockland County Buses with a 25.5% increase; the Long Island Railroad at 8.3%; and the New Jersey Transit Rail System’s River Line at 7.2%.

The biggest decreases in transit ridership were with the Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) bus system at -11.8%; the Westchester County Bee-Line Bus at -7.3%; and the MTA Bus Company at -6.8%.  

Despite year-over-year gains, transit ridership remains well below pre-pandemic levels.  The report found that the average weekday transit ridership during the fourth quarter of 2025 totaled 7,175,979 passengers, which is 27.1% lower — or 2.7 million fewer passengers — than in 2019, pre-COVID.

Impacting Ferry Service As Well

Ferry ridership across the region declined 1% compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, although performance varied significantly by route.

Several NYC Ferry routes took the biggest hit, with Governor’s Island experiencing the biggest passenger loss at -53%.  The Rockaway route declined by -37% during the fourth quarter, followed by the Soundview route at -33%. 

Conversely, the largest passenger increases were seen on NY Waterway routes, with Hoboken to/from the World Financial Center/Brookfield Place boasting a 32% passenger gain. This was followed by the Pier 11 to/from Port Liberte route, increasing by 24%, and the Pier 11 to/from Edgewater-Downtown route, increasing by 23%.

“Tracking the enormous amount of travel in our region is vital to everything we do here at NYMTC and a key element in servicing the region’s future transportation needs,” said Adam Levine, executive director of NYMTC.  “We are grateful for the cooperation and assistance of our member agencies who analyze and provide the data for this report and many others.”