What a Tunnel Should Do: The Exclusive Bus Lane, Lincoln Tunnel, and the Port Authority Bus Terminal

Рет қаралды 83,885

2 жыл бұрын

'Defeating traffic is "the ultimate boss battle," claims the current wealthiest person in the world. It's a pretty debatable claim, but traffic congestion and delay is definitely a nemesis for people who live in many areas of New Jersey and have to contend with New York traffic every day to get to work. If you live and work near commuter train stations, PATH stations, or ferry terminals, you are probably managing to win the boss battle already (no Tesla tunnel required!).
But if you live in other outlying areas on the New Jersey side of one of the world's busiest cities, you don't have convenient train service. What you DO have, though, is access to what is probably the world's most effective peak hour bus system. In the weekday AM peak hours, buses from all over northern New Jersey converge on the Exclusive Bus Lane (XBL), which runs in a contraflow lane on Route 495, through the Lincoln Tunnel, and directly into the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
In this video we'll look at the history of the Port Authority Midtown Bus Terminal, the implementation of the XBL, and future plans for adding new capacity to bus terminal. Along the way we'll talk about the traffic dynamics of tunnels and portals, the person-throughput value of transit lanes, and the classism of how our nation views bus riders.
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Special thanks to KZfaq channel Timosha21 for use of the XBL video!
Check out the channel: / timosha21
Original XBL video here: • A Ride on the The Linc...
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Twitter: @nerd4cities
Instagram: @nerd4cities
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Other CityNerd Videos referenced:
- Urbanist Ballparks: • What Is Urbanism? 2022...
- Best Ferry Systems: • Transit On the Water: ...
- Busiest Bridges and Tunnels: • Busiest Bridges and Tu...
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Resources:
- Mode Capacity Graphic By Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI) - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- FTA and PANYNJ Bus Terminal Replacement - Final Scoping Report - Appendix A (PDF, 9.5 MB): www.panynj.gov/content/dam/bu...
- FTA and PANYNJ Bus Terminal Replacement - Final NEPA Scoping Information Packet, January 20, 2022 (PDF, 1.6 MB): www.panynj.gov/content/dam/bu...
- Trans Hudson Commuting Capacity Study Appendices: www.panynj.gov/content/dam/bu...
- Trans Hudson Commuting Capacity Study Summary Report: www.panynj.gov/content/dam/bu...
- Port Authority Terminals: www.panynj.gov/bus-terminals/...
- Port Authority history: www.panynj.gov/bus-terminals/...
- NJ Transit bus schedules: www.njtransit.com/bus-to
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Image Credits:
- Penn Station Greyhound Terminal By Berenice Abbott - Flickr: Greyhound Bus Terminal, 33rd and 34th Streets between Sevent... New York Public Library, Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- NY gridlock video Video by Life-Of-Vids from Pixabay
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Music:
CityNerd background: Caipirinha in Hawaii by Carmen María and Edu Espinal (KZfaq music library)
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Contact: nerd4cities@gmail.com

Пікірлер: 453

@andrepoiy1199 2 жыл бұрын

When I went to NYC for the first time and I had exited that tunnel, there was literally a traffic jam in the XBL lane. I was amazed that there were just so many buses that the bus lane had its own traffic jam.

@harktischris 2 жыл бұрын

I am just absolutely floored by the throughput and capacity from "just" a bus lane. I'm not even sure trains could replace it, since it sounds like these are a lot of different bus routes with a large geographic catchment. Mad props to NJ/NYC for pulling this off. They should invest in it more, probably extremely great ROI for the regional economy.

@finnrummygaming 2 жыл бұрын

This is why the George Washington bus terminal in uptown Manhattan was built; to get rid of some of the Port Authority demand, especially for limited intercity bus services.

@Novers 2 жыл бұрын

I always appreciate you calling at stuff that's classist when you talk about stuff like the bus terminal

@NathanRixThroughGlass 2 жыл бұрын

43 buses in one hour for one line just really boggles the mind

@stevelewis7501 2 жыл бұрын

I love this channel, but you're not getting a like this time because you don't understand Chicago pizza.

@kb_100 2 жыл бұрын

I've taken the Greyhound into the port authority a few times and I always thought it was an underappreciated facility. It feels dilapidated but actually does its job pretty well.

@iamweave 2 жыл бұрын

The advantage of running busses through that tunnel is they can fan out and go into different directions to their destinations whereas a train would require a lot of the riders to transfer to a local bus at some point. So that's a potential three seat ride -- one on the subway in Manhattan, another to get through the tunnel, then yet another for a bus on the other end.

@Wilma.Flintstone Жыл бұрын

Native New Yorker here! Just want to say that us warning people about going into Port Authority isn't classism, it's simply because it's not always the most safest place to be. Similar to the other large transportation hubs in the city (Penn Station, Grand Central, etc), many people who are using drugs in the open, fighting one another, etc. hang out in various parts of Port Authority. NYers don't care at all about who takes public transportation, so there is no classism for this particular thing

@TheSpaceBrosShow 2 жыл бұрын

Chicago supremasists unite

@timosha21 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Timosha - is Timothy in Russian :D and the pronunciation was spot on!

@charleskra 2 жыл бұрын

I've taken Greyhound busses from Mt Laurel, NJ into the Port Authority many times. It's quick, easy, and relatively cheap. You are right that there is a bias against it. People that don't utilize it have the impression that it must be the dregs of the earth that do. However, I have shared the bus with fashion models, corporate execs, construction workers, students, and day-tripping tourists. The efficiency is amazing and I have a bit of reverse snobbery towards anyone stupid enough to drive into the city, fight traffic, pay the tolls, and pay a small fortune to park.

@DanValentineFilms 2 жыл бұрын

As a New Jerseyan I've been on this route hundreds of times. Cool to seeya cover it.

@Big.hossss 2 жыл бұрын

Wow! When I took my first trip to New York a few months ago, I stayed a block away and saw the building every time I left the hotel. I never knew what it was but finding out it's the busiest bus terminal in the world is crazy to think about

@cypher50 2 жыл бұрын

I'm tearing up because of this video: my father was a bus driver for Shortline Bus Company out of Mahwah, NJ when I was growing up. He would take my older brother and I on his runs from Middletown or Monroe, NY to the "Port Authority" in midtown. I remember the red brick inside, getting bagels on his short break in the morning, always wondering about that midpoint in the Lincoln Tunnel between NY and NJ. My dad passed away on the job in 1997 and I only rode that ride from upstate NY to the bus terminal a few more times before moving south. It might be just a bus terminal but I miss it.

@icedragon769 2 жыл бұрын

I commuted by the 123 from Union City into Port Authority for two years. It was mostly basically fine, but late-nights got weird because they changed the gates, and occasionally the tunnel plugged up for some reason or the other and you randomly have a nightmare commute.

@justinoboyle5767 2 жыл бұрын

Great video! I never quite appreciated how unique it was until your video about tunnels. (also, thanks for the shoutout!)

@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un 2 жыл бұрын

New York: Have fun in NJ, no toll from us!

@pickled51 2 жыл бұрын

In the late 1950's and early 1960's, prior to getting a driver's license, a bus into the Port Authority from NJ was the best system for my friends and I to reach Manhattan. We just happened to be located at the end of several local bus routes from other parts of New Jersey which meant we had express service into Manhattan. Faster than the train for which a station was a long distance away from home. In the late 1960's we moved and now a train station was closer to home than the bus. When younger, I was always impressed by the Port Authority terminal as I had no experience with NY Penn Station. But when I converted to using the train, I saw the big difference between PABT vs. Penn Station (even though this was after the real Penn Station replaced by the station under Madison Square Garden). I am still surprised that the AM express bus lane is still be using today along 495 into the Lincoln Tunnel.

@chrispontani6059 2 жыл бұрын

Port Authority is one of those underrated infrastructure/transportation geek facilities. I only took Greyhound and Peter Pan to Boston, and that was in the basement…easy connection to the subway, one stop to Penn Station to the LIRR. But buses aren’t sexy, so we all cry about the knocked down original Penn Station. Because of geography and existing infrastructure, there are many places in North Jersey where you can walk to your street corner and hop on a bus that takes you to Midtown. The geography east of the Hudson funnels people onto the rail lines, where Jersey is a vast expanse. Instead of converting the XBL to rail, what Jersey needs to do is look into building commuter rail lines where they currently aren’t, like say Route 9 in Middlesex County. Bring back the Amboy Secondary, and/or build the Middlesex/Ocean/Monmouth rail line they’ve been taking about for decades now.