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July 13, 2010
The Transit Death Star
Posted by morangre under Public Transportation, Transportation Commentary | Tags: 42nd Street, Bus Rapid Transit, buses, Grand Central Terminal, Heartland Brewery, New York Port Authority, Port Authority Bus Terminal, Public Transportation |Leave a Comment
If you come to this post expecting a breakdown of some trend in cleantech transit, you will have to kindly wait until next week. Tonight’s post is fully dedicated to a New York City transit center’s incompetence that this blogger witnessed first hand just a few short hours ago.
For thousands of travelers each day, for both commuters and tourists alike, the New York City Port Authority Bus Terminal serves as a portal to the “city that never sleeps.” By all accounts, this is one of the most bustling public transit hubs in the United States, as it serves over 58 million passengers annually. Simply stepping into the main terminal’s entrance on 8th Ave between 41st and 42nd streets, one wonders how this labyrinth even functions to serve it’s purpose of transporting passengers on buses throughout the Northeast. The answer is barely. For instance, just today, I had to wait 25 minutes from the time our bus returned to Port Authority until the time we alighted from the bus due to a last second gate logistic switch. In talking to other friends, apparently this type of experience is the norm, not the exception unfortunately.
It is no secret that buses are treated as second class citizens in New York City. Simply look to the lack of bus rapid transit lanes, a strategy that has shown time and again to work in South America and Europe. City planners and policy makers have always favored subways or commuter rail lines over bus transit. Nowhere is this more evident than in the comparison between Grand Central Station and the Port Authority Bus Terminal. One is a beacon of architectural reclamation and commercial triumph, the other is a seventh rate architectural structure whose only commercial highlight is that it contains a Heartland Brewery (brewery should be used loosely……) by one of the main entrances. Such an important transportation hub should be seen as an architectural landmark. Other nations seem to understand this, even China. Apparently, we in the US, especially in New York, missed the memo.
If the exterior architecture weren’t bad enough, perhaps one should take a closer look at the circuitous paths leading up to the actual bus gates. It is time for a Grand Central-esque overhaul. And while they are at it, why not let the revised structure rise to the sky with gleaming commercial office space like some of these 2008 proposals. I understand this is a massive capital investment that will probably bankrupt the city and state even further. The city and state probably don’t have a cool $10 billion just lying around these days. We must continue to put relevant infrastructure in place that will finally elevate the bus to its proper place alongside trains in the perception of the city public transit user.