Three New Jersey State Senate leaders are pressing the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to build a new bus terminal in Manhattan.
Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, and Legislative Oversight Committee Chair Bob Gordon, D- Fair Lawn, emphasized the important of a new Port Authority Bus Terminal to New Jersey commuters and called on the agency to include the project in its new 10-year capital plan. Weinberg noted after a Oct. 13 tour of the current terminal with Sweeney and Gordon that three out of four Port Authority Bus Terminal subcommittee members recommended approving a plan for a new facility at the September board meeting.
“There is no question that a new Port Authority Bus Terminal is needed, and the Port Authority has been studying plans for the last two years,” said Senator Weinberg in a statement. “If a new Port Authority Bus Terminal is not authorized in time to be included in the new 10-year capital plan that is scheduled to be released in December that could push the project back four years or more.”
Senator Gordon, who chairs the Senate Legislative Oversight Committee that has been holding hearings on Port Authority reform and capital priorities, said a new bus terminal with capacity for 55,000 additional commuters a day could be completed by 2024 if the project proceeds now. Senator Sweeney pointed out that the project is especially vital for New Jersey given that bus ridership from the Garden State to New York is expected to increase 50% by 2040.
Port Authority spokesman Neal Buccino said the agency is exploring the feasibility of replacing the Manhattan bus terminal and also has launched a $90 million program to improve conditions for current commuters. This has included efforts to reduce crowding by consolidating operations on different floors, renovating restrooms and improved Wi-Fi coverage.
“The Port Authority is committed to its trans-Hudson mission, including addressing bus and rail transit ridership which have growing importance in regional mobility,” said Buccino. “As part of that effort, we continue to explore options for the replacement of the current Port Authority Bus Terminal.”
