Archinect - News

Port Authority signs on to Foster + Partners' $10 billion Midtown Bus Terminal replacement plan

2024-09-30T18:19:00-04:00

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, in conjunction with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), has announced the signing of the final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the revised Midtown Bus Terminal replacement plan from Foster + Partners and Epstein.

The $10 billion project, which was last updated in February, calls for a 2.1-million-square-foot terminal to be delivered in phases over four years with an eventual 2032 completion. The plan will partially close 41st Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. A temporary facility will come online by 2028. The terminal currently services around 100,000 passengers per day.

Image: Foster + Partners & Epstein

Good bus terminal design improves public transit participation, new study finds

2024-08-11T08:00:00-04:00

New research from the Italian University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli into the “hedonic quality” of bus terminals and their effects on users’ consumer behavior has shown an offsetting cost-benefit that correlates to better ridership where there is a higher quality of architectural design.

Satisfied by the aesthetics of virtual shelters or terminals, the paper found “the Italian tourist is willing to spend up to €4.35/trip more for a high-quality bus waiting space or travel up to 28.2 min/trip more, instead of using a traditional bus terminal for the same trip.” These findings add to a body of existing scholarship on urban psychology and behavioral economics. The authors noted the corresponding benefit of reducing emissions from motor vehicles, especially in the center of major population areas.

“In my opinion this is a disruptive result for transport operators and planners,” the paper's coauthor, Armando Cartenì from the university's Department of Architecture and Industrial Desig...

Revised design published for Foster + Partners’ Midtown Bus Terminal in New York City

2024-02-15T11:27:00-05:00

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has published revised plans for the new Midtown Bus Terminal. The scheme, designed by Foster + Partners, will replace the existing terminal that opened in 1950.

The $10 billion facility will include a 2.1 million square foot terminal with a separate storage and staging building and new ramps leading directly in and out of the Lincoln Tunnel. The revised plans will also include the permanent closure of a portion of 41st Street between Eight and Ninth avenues, as well as a central main entrance, more street-level retail, and a multi-story indoor atrium and new public open space.

Interior view of the proposed facility to replace the main terminal. Image credit: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

The project is to be delivered through a phased construction approach over four years, with a projected completion in 2032. The new staging and bus storage facility will be delivered first, so as to serve as a temporary terminal while the exis...

Foster + Partners selected to lead Port Authority’s new Midtown Bus Terminal design

2022-08-11T17:27:00-04:00

The design of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s new Midtown Bus Terminal will be led by Foster + Partners, the firm and the transit organization announced recently. The Port Authority is in the process of replacing its aging 72-year-old facility and has contracted the team to oversee the expansion of bus and passenger capacity, which includes improving the pickup/dropoff areas in the streets that surround it.

Foster + Partners says: “The new terminal will be designed to provide a best-in-class customer experience that serves the region’s 21st century public transportation needs, while enhancing the surrounding community and allowing for the removal of intercity buses from local streets.”

Image courtesy Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

The multidisciplinary firm A. Epstein & Sons International will join the partnership to leverage its own considerable experience in the design of major public transit facilities. Foster + Partners thus will be asked to “review, e...

NYC Port Authority releases 5 design proposals for new bus terminal

2016-09-22T18:35:00-04:00

On Tuesday, an agreement was reached between West Side elected officials and the Port Authority that said the agency would expand the planning process for a new $10 billion bus terminal with more local input. And just today they’ve revealed the five proposals that were submitted to a design competition to replace the currently loathed site.

Big-name firms Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, Arcadis, AECOM, Perkins Eastman, and Archilier Architecture Consortium provided proposal, a number of which take on swooping forms and boast green roofs.

Manhattan transit hub to become slightly less ugly monster

2011-07-29T22:07:56-04:00

If it were possible to soar on the wings of angels, or even on those of the lowly pigeons that haunt the five boroughs, we would be able, perhaps, to appreciate the pristine geometric beauty of the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal. Unfortunately, we remain earthbound, and at street level, the afore-mentioned terminal is one ugly monster of a building. But that is about to change with a nearly $200 million renovation.