Broadband access is not just a necessity, but also a human right recently recognized by the United Nations. While internet-based technologies are increasingly ingrained in the lives of city-dwellers, millions of people in major cities like New York lack access to high-speed internet. LinkNYC is an infrastructure project that replaced payphones and provides free broadband-based Wi-Fi connection.

This research seeks to start a discussion on the role this new technology carries in democratizing Internet access in New York and its place in day-to-day activities of the residents. We use bivariate analysis, clustering, and time-series methods to assess the relationships between LinkNYC, socio-economic factors, and 311 Service Requests. Additionally, we examine how has the public perception of the technology changed over the years by scraping and analyzing web articles mentioning LinkNYC. From our work, we conclude that LinkNYC has played an important role for the city community so far and that there is still room for improvement and further research.

This project is a collaboration between NYU Center for Urban Science + Progress and Intersection.

What is the digital divide?

Digital divide means the the uneven distribution between demographics and regions in access to, use of, or impact of modern information and communication technologies. Those technologies could include the telephone, television, personal computers and the Internet (boradband).

What is broadband?

Broadband is the high-speed data transmission. In our study, broadband is defined as the readily-available high-speed internet connection.

Socio-economic benefits of broadband

Broadband at the municipal level has played an important role in the communities and local economies. One study had determined that broadband availability stimulates local business growth and competitiveness (Gillett et al, 2006). Another study determined that these municipal internet service providers provide more affordable internet than private providers and that they are often the only available option for their communities (Talbot et al., 2018)

Digital Divide in New York City

The 2014 report by the Office of the New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer had revealed that millions of New Yorkers don’t have access to high-speed internet access, contributing to the digital divide in the City (Office of the New York City Comptroller, 2014). New Yorkers who don’t have online access lack the tools they need to improve their education, employment, and business opportunities,” Comptroller Stringer said. We did not find much academic research about broadband availability in New York.

What's LinkNYC?

LinkNYC is a municipal broadband infrastructure project that provides free broadband service across New York. Municipal broadband is one of the ways governments use to provide internet access to people. It is high-bandwidth and is funded either in part or completely by the municipal government. LinkNYC is replacing payphones with a 9.5-foot-tall structure known as Links and often referred to as kiosks. These kiosks provide public Wi-Fi to New Yorkers, small businesses, and visitors in all five boroughs. Each Link also provides free phone calls, device charging and has a tablet computer for accessing city services, maps, and directions. (City of New York, 2019).

Map: LinkNYC Locations

LinkNYC and SNAP benefit EBT

Intersection Co. previously observed that LinkNYC kiosks are often used by people dependent on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, commonly known as food stamps. Electronics Benefits Transfer (EBT) is how the SNAP benefits are allocated to cards.

We examined the relationship between the percentage of households receiving food stamps in Census’ Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) and median EBT-related calls made on LinkNYC in these areas. We observed a positive relationship between the two factors, which can be seen in the figure below.

Chart: Percentage of households receiving SNAP benefits against Median EBT calls per day

LinkNYC and Unemployment Rate

We looked at a possible relationship between the number LinkNYC kiosks and unemployment rates. We noticed a downward trend of monthly unemployment rate in New York as seen in the figure below. We discovered a reverse trend in the number of LinkNYC kiosk activations. Beisdes, we can see that the number LinkNYC of new LinkNYC station increases month-over-month in the timeframe of Late 2015 to Late 2018. Although, there might be some correlation between these two variables, we could not conclude a causal relationship between the variables. There is a number of external factors that explains the correlation, such as the steady growth of the US economy and predetermined incremental increase in LinkNYC stations in the city.

Chart: Time Series analysis of unemployment change over time in New York

Chart: Changes in unemployment and LinkNYC station activation

Conclusion

• Lower-income areas have higher correlation to EBT call usage.
• There is a high correlation between EBT call usage and percentage of young population in the Manhattan.
• Even though the correlations exist, it does not mean there is a causation. There can be a number of factors which cause changes in income and age and LinkNYC Call Usage might or might not be a cause. Thus it is important for policymakers to understand that even though there have been specific neighborhood pattern of living changes, they cannot be linked only to LinkNYC kiosks.
• From Census: It is also important to keep in mind that all ACS data are estimates. We collect data from a sample of the population in the United States and Puerto Rico rather than from the whole population. To help you interpret the reliability of the estimates, the Census Bureau publishes a margin of error (MOE) for every ACS estimate.

What is NYC311?

NYC 311 provides access to non-emergency City services and information about City government programs, which is available online and by phone.

LinkNYC impact on total number of 311 Service Requests

The 311 Service Requests total counts in areas with LinkNYC are lower than in areas without the kiosks. And the 311 Service Requests total counts drop after LinkNYC kiosk built (using the total Service Requests increasing rate to counteract the yearly increase effects).

Overall, the average number of 311 Service Requests in New York had increased by 31% ever since LinkNYC were introduced in the city. While we are unable to make any cause and effect conclusions yet, it is quite possible that LinkNYC has a connection to the decreases in requests near the stations.

So there is a definite decrease in the 311 counts in areas with higher LinkNYC kiosks.

LinkNYC and Noise Complaints

The 311 sidewalk noise-related Service Requests counts increase after LinkNYC kiosk built. We also created a word cloud to see the 311 complaint type changes after LinkNYC kiosks are built. We see that the complaint type changes dramatically. The complaint about noise increases, especially the sidewalk noise. Possibly, this can be linked to the fact that Links are used to make calls. LinkNYC calls may require a user to speak loudly to make sure others hear him clearly.

So LinkNYC likely increases sidewalk noise and associated noise complaints. And there is a change in complaint types after LinkNYC kiosk creation. Thus allowing a change in behavior of complaints and thus a difference in living patterns.

The Correlation of 311 data and LinkNYC Usage

We looked into the correlation of 311 data and LinkNYC usage. Specifically, we correlated complaint counts in each zip code and LinkNYC monthly number of unique clients. We did it in each zip code. We found that the more people use LinkNYC kiosk, the less 311 complaint counts, which is a negative correlation.

So there is a negative correlation between kiosk usage and complaints.

Public and media perception of LinkNYC over the years of operation

With the articles provided by LinkNYC we built topic models included 6 topics and each of them had 5 top terms.

In 2015, top terms included “access”, “phone”, “free”, “best”, “wifi” and “news”. Right after LinkNYC emerged, media focused more on introducing LinkNYC and studying about services that LinkNYC can provide. In 2016, top terms were consisted of words like “digital”, “display” and “business”. At this point, media started responding to the commercial nature of LinkNYC. Advertisement displayed on their devices played an important role in marketing and spreading ideas. In 2017, the top terms changed to “data” , “company”, “public” and “technology”. After years of data collection and accumulation, media started showing interest in data collected by LinkNYC. In 2018, top terms didn’t seem to change much which still included “data”, “public” and “information”. The interest to data was growing under the development of artificial intelligence.

Public’s interest about LinkNYC shifted from its functionality to business potentials, then to their impacts in terms of artificial intelligence. More specifically, public are fascinated by the data LinkNYC has been collected so far.

Team