New York's Bus Terminal: Overcrowded, Fragile and Largely Ignored

[marmar]

(Transportation Nation) In some respects, the Port Authority Bus Terminal is a victim of its own success. Built in the 1950s to centralize bus operations in midtown Manhattan, it reached capacity 16 years after opening. Now, the behemoth at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue serves 50 percent more people than it was built for. Today, buses move more people into the city from New Jersey each morning than NJ Transit trains do. And those buses regularly back up from the crowded bus terminal all the way through the Lincoln Tunnel.

"Every day is hit or miss," says commuter Cherise Canton, who has been taking a bus from Teaneck to her job in lower Manhattan for 15 years. She says it usually takes her at least an hour to go the 12 miles. "It's very seldom less than that. And it shouldn't be that long."

In the second of five stories in its series "Running Late," WNYC finds that a key piece of the region's transportation network is falling apart due to its age, neglect and second-class status. Double-decker or articulated buses could help bring in more passengers per hour, but those vehicles are prohibited because they are taller and heavier than the light 1950s-era buses the terminal was designed for. There is also no westbound exclusive bus lane that would prevent Jersey-bound buses from getting stuck in Lincoln Tunnel traffic during the afternoon rush. Even worse: officials say the building's concrete support slabs have 15 to 25 years of life left in them. ...................(more)

http://www.wnyc.org/story/port-authority-bus-terminal/

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