Easing Manhattan's Friction

This article focuses on the Fulton Street Transit Center currently under construction in Lower Manhattan. The project is designed to consolidate a dozen existing New York Mass Transit Authority (MTA) subway lines into one space as well as provide new links to the World Trade Center and PATH stations. Key to the project is to reduce the friction that stems back to the rivalry between the transit companies that built the original subway lines. With no original connections between the underground tracks, passengers were discouraged from changing lines. The article describes how the different lines will converge at the Fulton Street Transit Center. Various construction challenges are also discussed, with some requiring analysis of the impact of the work on pedestrian traffic flows.