Kevin J. O’Toole
When I was growing up in North Jersey, I thought the Port Authority was a bus terminal and that was it. At that time, it didn’t register that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a bistate agency, was responsible for the bridges and tunnels that took New Jerseyans to and from New York, in addition to the PATH system. It didn’t register that the Port Authority was responsible for the three major airports and the vast seaport, now the second-busiest seaport for loaded cargo in the United States, or that it was building the World Trade Center. The Port Authority was the bus terminal. Period.
Decades later, as the chairman of the Port Authority, I understand the broader scope of the authority’s mandate to move the region for nearly 104 years. But as a North Jerseyan, I still know that for so many residents — many of my former constituents when I represented the 40th District in the state Senate — it is still the bus terminal.
More than ever, reliable mass transit is imperative for the economic growth of our region. The Midtown Bus Terminal is the busiest bus terminal in the world; more passengers use it than use our airports. But for decades, it has remained frozen in time.
Built in 1950 for fewer passengers, it quickly became overwhelmed by the volume of riders, by a lack of dedicated space for buses to stage close to the terminal, adding to street congestion, and by the changing societal needs surrounding the vast fortress-like structure between Eighth and Ninth avenues in the heart of the theater district.
At the close of 2024, the Port Authority’s plans to build a new 2.1 million-square-foot main bus terminal with a light-filled atrium entrance, a separate bus storage and staging building, and new ramps leading directly into and out of the Lincoln Tunnel cleared significant hurdles with respect to the National Environmental Policy Act review and the local Uniform Land Use Review Procedure permitting processes.
At this point, all federal and local approvals have been secured, and the first early works construction contracts have been awarded. It’s full speed ahead.
The new Midtown Bus Terminal will not be just a single building. A separate building where buses will be able to stage between delivering and picking up passengers in the terminal will be constructed first and serve as a temporary station while the new one is constructed. Additionally, at the end of construction, 3.5 acres of publicly accessible green space will be created on Port Authority property.
This is one of the most transformative projects the Port Authority has undertaken in its history. Working closely with community stakeholders, it will make the new Midtown Bus Terminal not a fortress, but a portal. It will be the facility that welcomes riders — interstate riders coming from places far from the metropolitan region, as well as thousands of daily commuters. Opportunities will open for local businesses, and of equal importance, it will be a portal for community members to find services and public spaces that will welcome them, serve them and, with the addition of public art, entertain them, as well.
As extraordinary as the Midtown Bus Terminal Replacement Project is, it is one of four transformative Port Authority infrastructure projects:
- The Port Authority in 2024 launched the Newark Vision Plan, building on the new Terminal A at Newark Liberty International Airport, which was named the Best New Airport Terminal in the World in 2024. The Newark Vision Plan sets out the master plan for the creation of a world-class aviation gateway, including a new Newark Air Train and a new Terminal B.
- The Port Authority continued the $19 billion transformation of John F. Kennedy International Airport, with the completion of structural steel at the New Terminal One and Terminal Six.
- The Port Authority built and delivered a new, world-class LaGuardia Airport. Once derided as the worst airport in the nation, LaGuardia was named by the Forbes Travel Guide in 2024 as the best airport in the United States.
These projects — the cornerstone of what the Port Authority will build in its second century — support other initiatives the authority is taking across the region. In 2024, the Port Authority acquired the full title to the Howland Hook facility in Staten Island, setting the stage for expansion to add capacity, resiliency and efficiency to the Port of New York and New Jersey.
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Additionally, in 2024, the Port Authority launched the PATH Forward program, which will invest $430 million to upgrade PATH stations, tracks and other critical equipment in the 116-year-old system.
My young self would say, “Well, that’s a lot more than a bus terminal.” It is. And none of this would be possible without the 8,000-person workforce of the Port Authority, including the Port Authority Police Department.
As someone who has spent 40 years in public service, I am keenly aware that it is imperative that public agencies hear and listen to what communities expect from them. The Port Authority is delivering world-class infrastructure that will continue to move the region forward through the next 100 years. And I would proudly tell my young self, “The best is yet to come.”
Kevin J. O’Toole is the chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
