The Big Apple’s dilapidated Port Authority bus terminal in Times Square may finally be getting its much needed overhaul. On Thursday May 23rd, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced that it has launched an environmental review process of options to replace the rundown PABT in Times Square, which is known as the busiest bus terminal in America.
As reported by the NY Post, Port Authority officials have revealed that they are considering three options. For now, the most popular choice is to entirely rebuild the terminal where it stands at West 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. Another option is to move some or all of the terminal’s bus traffic a few blocks south to the expansive Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, close to the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. As per Politico, the convention hall’s entire lower level could be converted into an underground bus terminal.
The third option being mulled is a mix of the two other possibilities. Longer-haul buses would run out of out of the Javits Center, and the current PABT would be renovating rather than completely rebuilt. Under this plan, the current PABT would be utilized almost exclusively for commuters going to and from New Jersey, thereby lessening the congestion there.
The endeavors are projected to cost billions of dollars, and take until the year 2030. Public hearings to discuss the projects will be held in July and September.
Today the bus terminal, built in the 1950s, is frequently underwhelming with leaky ceilings, broken air conditioners, and overall filthy conditions. The center handles over 250,000 trips each weekday, and there were approximately 64.8 million passengers commuting to and from the terminal in 2017, as per the MTA. The number of daily passengers stopping there is slated to increase to 337,000 by 2040. “We’re entering into this without any preferred option. We don’t have a site, we don’t have a design, we don’t know for sure how big this thing will be,” said Andrew Lynn, the authority’s director of planning and regional development, when the talks first began in 2017. “We don’t have a schedule; we don’t have a budget yet. We’re really starting over.”
The topic of renovating the bus terminal is by no means a new notion. The Port Authority has long deliberated ways to improve the PABT, but talks always fell through thanks to the inability for of the bi-state agency to agree on a solution.
“We are committed to building the replacement bus terminal and to do so in full consultation with the community, with elected officials in both New York and New Jersey, and with all stakeholders,” said Port Authority executive director Richard Cotton, in a statement on Thursday.
