Port Authority Bus Terminal

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Port Authority Bus Terminal at Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street

The Port Authority Bus Terminal is the main gateway for interstate buses into Manhattan in New York City. It is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The bus terminal is a large building located in Midtown, one block west from the Times Square neighborhood, between 8th and 9th Avenues and 40th and 42nd Street at 625 8th Avenue. The terminal serves as a terminus and departure point for both commuter bus routes (mainly operated by New Jersey Transit's bus operations division) as well as for intercity routes operated by bus companies such as Greyhound and Peter Pan. Direct underground passageways connect the terminal with the 1 2 3 ⁽¹²³⁴⁾, 7 <7> ^(1a2a3c), S ⁽¹²³⁴⁾, N Q R ⁽¹²³⁴⁾ W ^(123a) and A C ⁽¹²³⁴⁾ E New York City Subway lines.

The terminal serves 7,200 buses and about 200,000 people on an average weekday. Over 3 billion passengers have used the building since it opened in 1950.

Port Authority Bus Terminal interior, March 2005.

The terminal was a solution for a hectic array of various terminals spread throughout Midtown Manhattan. The goal was to centralize the flow of buses and create a user-friendly building. The Port Authority Bus Terminal was opened on December 15, 1950 for passengers.

The building has seen expansions and revitalizations over the years. The area around the Port Authority was once considered dangerous even by the standards of pre-gentrified Times Square, especially after dark, but this is no longer the case.