The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have announced the selection of Foster + Partners and U.S.-based multi-disciplinary design firm A. Epstein and Sons International Inc to reimagine the city's state-of-the-art Midtown Bus Terminal in Manhattan, the busiest bus terminal in the world. The project aims to expand the terminal's accommodation capacity, replacing the aging 72-year-old bus terminal with a new world-class facility. 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.
Along with the bus capacity growth, the newly proposed project aims to accommodate the intercity buses, which have been picking up and dropping off passengers on the streets surrounding the current outdated terminal, as well as provide new off-street capacity for buses waiting their turn to pick up and drop off, and storing buses between the morning and evening rush periods.
The joint architectural venture will provide the architectural design services, from the earliest stages of the project, until the design phase and the environmental review. The team will review, evaluate, recommend, and provide advisory services on urban design, streetscape, functionalism, community impact, design and spatial strategies, to name a few.
In addition to substantive new redevelopment and transportation projects such as the rebuilding of our airports and the World Trade Center campus, the proposal to build a new Midtown Bus Terminal continues our agency’s essential role of delivering major transportation facility projects that can transform entire neighborhoods and revitalize the regional economy. -- Kevin O'Toole, Port Authority's Chairman
The teams will be tasked with ensuring that the new facility will prioritize community feedback and integrating industry-leading technology in its design to improve passenger experience, maximize operational efficiencies, and foster sustainability. They will also offer critical support during the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review, and ensure that the architectural design is consistent with the Port Authority’s ambitious goals for the proposed project. Both teams were selected following a federally compliant competitive procurement process.
