Port Authority Bus Terminal Gate Changes Take Effect Tuesday
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Port Authority Bus Terminal passengers who go on autopilot straight to their usual gate may face a detour starting Tuesday.
As CBS2's Tony Aiello reported, about one-third of departure gates will change, so your usual gate on the third floor may become your new gate on the fourth floor.
The Port Authority has put up 500 posters, signs and banners and handed out 75,000 fliers -- all to inform 110,000 daily commuters of the impending changes.
The agency is rethiking how resources are deployed at the bus terminal and moving gates around to decrease the traffic jams on the bus ramps that so often slow down operations.
"We're consolidating the operations for New Jersey Transit and Coach to give them better command and control over their bus operations, to improve the efficiency of their operations," said Diannae Ehler, general manager of the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
The third floor will now be dedicated entirely to NJ TRANSIT, which accounts for 60 percent of terminal traffic.
The four lines associated with Coach USA will move their gates to the fourth floor.
All the changes are listed on the Port Authority website. Click here to view the changes.
"It's been on the news, so I would assume that most people know," one commuter told Aiello. "But I"m sure there will be a lot of people who are surprised who were away for the Labor Day weekend."
The Port Authority will have dozens of ambassadors at the terminal Tuesday to help passengers navigate the changes.
Since they are departure gate changes, the biggest impact will be during the evening rush hour.
The gate reconfiguration is part of a $90 million "quality of commute" effort at the PABT. It's a stop-gap measure while the Port Authority figures out how to fund a $10 billion terminal replacement project.