Sketchy bus-iness: More questions than answers on the new Port Authority Bus Terminal

Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News
·2 min read

There’s lots to dislike about the yucky Port Authority Bus Terminal. And while the PA’s fix-up plan has some definite pluses, there are more questions than answers on a scheme that could run up to $10 billion.

On the positive side, the rebuilt-in-place station will not require the condemnation of any land or the destruction of any historic buildings or churches; those nearby structures will be preserved, unlike with Amtrak’s designs for an expanded Penn Station (take a note, Gov. Hochul).

The proposed new depot will be able to accommodate more than a third as many additional buses, making room for intercity carriers that today literally can’t fit their buses inside (some new vehicles are too tall) as well as because of a lack of available gates. The extra room also means that afternoon commuter buses won’t have to idle outside waiting to get in to pick up their passengers.

But, and there are a lot of buts, there’s no sound financing beyond $3 billion in the Port’s capital budget. Expected revenue from four office towers (or even residential towers) can’t be counted on. And hoped for federal money is only a hope.

And as with the Penn plan, the biggest unaddressed issue is the new hybrid world of work for many who used to fill up Manhattan each weekday. Bus ridership is at only 60% of the pre-COVID levels and may never return to its old levels.

While making room for the many inexpensive intercity carriers is good, will they be forced to use the expanded terminal and pay the fees? Would they then have to charge their riders more?

What we don’t want is another monument to New Jersey’s wishes, like the downtown PATH boondoggle that was about a million years late and billions of dollars over budget. It’s ominous that the same Portocrat who botched PATH, Steve Plate, is in charge here and that the PA is touting the hiring of “world-class architects.” That’s what we had with over-praised Santiago Calatrava, who built a soaring station without a single clock.