Port Authority Bus Terminal

Beyond spending $90 million on short-term repairs involving passenger comfort and convenience at the aging Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan, seen here, officials are planning an entirely new structure to address bus parking, circulation and other long-term issues. (Robert Sciarrino | NJ Advance Media)

(Robert Sciarrino | NJ Advance Media)

NEW YORK — If you think the $3.9 billion World Trade Center transportation hub sounds pricey, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Officials of the Port Authority of New York and New say replacing the aging and overcrowded Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan will cost an estimated $8 to $10 billion. Officials disclosed the cost estimate for the first time today, in advance of a staff presentation to Port Authority commissioners scheduled for Thursday's monthly meeting in Jersey City.

The figure is ten times the amount commissioners were using during discussions of a new terminal last summer, based in part on a previous cost estimate of $800 million for a new terminal that had been included in the agency's previous capital plan.

The agency's chairman, John Degnan, who began his tenure last year by riding a bus into the old terminal, acknowledged that "most commissioners, including me, thought it would be less."

Degnan pointed out that the new figures were a "gross" estimate that did not include potential revenues from, for example, the sale of air rights to a developer for building above the new terminal. He also said the board could seek outside estimates, and vowed that he and other commissioners would work on minimizing costs.

"This is the staff's estimate, not the board's," Degnan said.

Officials said the cost of the project would include three basic components: a new terminal building in the same or roughly the same location just outside the Lincoln Tunnel in Midtown; construction of new ramps linking the tunnel and terminal; and construction of a bus parking garage to eliminate the wasteful round trips that thousands of buses make through the tunnel to New Jersey and back in between the morning and evening rush hours, completely empty, because there is nowhere to park them in Manhattan.

Part of the cost involves the need to create a temporary bus terminal capable of serving what is right now 230,000 bus commuters a day while demolition of the old terminal and construction of a new one takes place, officials said.

Just where the money would come from has not been determined, though officials are hopeful that federal transit dollars will cover the bulk of the cost. For example, nearly three quarters of the cost of the WTC transportation hub, or $2.8 billion, is being provided by the Federal Transit Administration, according to the Port Authority.

It was during the summer that a public outcry over deteriorating conditions at the existing midtown bus station prompted the board to authoriize $90 million in immediate improvements to bathrooms, heating and air conditioning systems, flooring and other needs.

The new terminal could be completed in 10-15 years, depending on which of five alternatives is selected. Commissioners are not scheduled to take any action on the project Thursday.



Officials say peak hour capacity at the existing terminal is already exceeded by demand, which is projected to grow by 50 percent over the next 25 years, about the same time the lifespan of the terminal's floor slabs is projected to lapse.

"In 2040, more than 42,000 commuters each hour - the capacity of Citi Field - will use the Port Authority Bus Terminal during the afternoon peak," the Port Authority said in a statement. "Through the master planning process, the Port Authority and leading private sector consultants, including Parsons Brinkerhoff and Kohn Pederson Fox, are focused on creating a road map to address the significant demand for trans-Hudson bus capacity and ensure that hundreds of thousands of commuters each day will continue to help power the economy on both sides of the river for generations to come."

Officials said the current bus terminal loses $100 million a year, due to inefficiencies and a lack of revenue sources, an annual operating deficit that a new facility would be designed to avoid.

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow hin on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.