Loop NYC Wants to Bring Driverless Expressways and Green Corridors to Manhattan

Manhattan-based architecture practice Edg has created an ambitious proposal that replaces major highways into driverless ones, as well as adding green corridors spanning the length of the island. Named “Loop NYC,” the scheme aims to improve Manhattanites' quality of life and reduce the city’s urban pollution. Edg has released a video outlining the proposal and its uses (see above)—read on for the project breakdown.

Loop NYC works by transforming existing major city highways into driverless expressways and 1-way streets, with major city streets (14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd, 57th, 86th, and 110th) that cut across the island exclusively hosting driverless vehicles. With the exception of 110th Street, the streets mentioned are part of the original 15 designed to be wider than 30 meters by the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811, which was responsible for the original grid-design of Manhattan—making them some of the busiest streets in the city today. By combining the cross streets with major highways circling the perimeter of the city, driverless expressways work in a series of “loops,” quickly and efficiently transporting passengers while optimizing traffic flow. Currently, a loop from Grand Central Station to Lower Manhattan and back takes 40 minutes; Loop NYC offers to get you around in just 11.