⁴ᴷ⁶⁰ Walking NYC: The Port Authority Bus Terminal

January 4, 2023 - 6:50 PM

A multi-level walkthrough of the Port Authority Midtown Bus Terminal in New York City. As of 2023, it is the busiest bus terminal in the world by passenger volume.

Highlights:
00:00 - Eighth Avenue entrance on West 40th Street
00:53 - First floor main concourse
01:48 - Lower level gates (Gates 1 to 34)
04:05 - Second floor mezzanine level
04:40 - McAnn's bar
05:19 - Eagle mural
06:35 - Third level (300 Gates)
07:43 - Returning to second floor mezzanine
10:14 - Fourth level (400 Gates)
12:44 - Returning to second floor mezzanine
12:57 - Entrance to Frames bowling lounge
13:17 - Six Summit Art Gallery

From Wikipedia:
The Port Authority Bus Terminal (colloquially known as the Port Authority and by its acronym PABT) is a bus terminal located in Manhattan in New York City. It is the busiest bus terminal in the world by volume of traffic, serving about 8,000 buses and 225,000 people on an average weekday and more than 65 million people a year.

The terminal is located in Midtown Manhattan at 625 Eighth Avenue between 40th Street and 42nd Street, one block east of the Lincoln Tunnel and one block west of Times Square. It is one of three bus terminals operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ); the other two are George Washington Bridge Bus Station in Upper Manhattan and Journal Square Transportation Center in Jersey City.

PABT serves as a terminus and departure point for commuter routes as well as for long-distance intercity bus service and is a major transit hub for residents of New Jersey. It has 223 departure gates and 1,250 car parking spaces, as well as commercial and retail space. In 2011, there were more than 2.263 million bus departures from the terminal.

PABT opened in 1950. It was built to consolidate several private terminals spread across Midtown Manhattan. A second wing, extending to 42nd Street, was added in 1979. Since then, the terminal has reached peak hour capacity, leading to congestion and overflow on local streets. It does not allow for layover parking; which requires that buses use local streets or lots, or return through the tunnel empty. PANYNJ has been unsuccessful in its attempts to expand passenger facilities through public private partnership, and in 2011 it delayed construction of a bus depot annex, citing budgetary constraints. In June 2013, it commissioned an 18-month study that considered options for the terminal's reconfiguration, expansion, or replacement.

In 2016, the PANYNJ invited a number of development teams to propose ideas for replacement of the existing bus terminal. Subsequently, in May 2019, the PANYNJ commenced the environmental review process for PABT's replacement. The PANYNJ planned to host four public hearings, two each in New York and New Jersey, in July and September 2019. Three plans were considered: building a new terminal on the site, building a new terminal elsewhere, or moving intercity buses elsewhere while renovations took place in the existing terminal. In anticipation of opportunities that reconstruction of the bus terminal will portend, the Hell's Kitchen South Coalition produced its own plan for the area.

In January 2021, the Port Authority released plans for reconstructing the terminal on the same site, with expansion of bus layover facilities. The PANYNJ hired British architects Foster + Partners and Chicago-based design and engineering firm Epstein Global in August 2022 to design the new terminal.