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New fees to sue Manhattan bus terminal will hurt NJ Transit

By: Colleen Wilson
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... The Port authority will charge NJ Transit new and higher fees to sue its Manhattan bus terminal and help pay for a new one - a steep financial hit that cooed get passed on to NJ Transit riders and New Jersey taxpayers.
..... Tucked away in the 10-year capital plan approved by the Port authority last year [2025] was a mention of increasing the fees at its bus terminal in midtown Manhattan and adding new ones.
..... The explanation for the new and higher fees was simple enough: They will help pay to build what has been described as a new "world-class" bus terminal.
..... But details of those changes in the capital plan and accompanying documents were unknown to several bus companies that use the current terminal, the Port authority of New York and New Jersey board voted to approve the plan in December. [2025]
..... In the coming 2027 fiscal year - which starts July 1, 2026, and ends June 30, 2027 - NJ Transit predicts a hike of more than 60%in tolls and fees to have its buses use the Port authority's Lincoln tunnel and midsection Manhattan bus terminal when compared with fiscal year 2025.
..... Port Authority leaders have spent months trumpeting the bus terminal's constriction as an example of how an agency known for bitter and toxic interstate rivalries evolved into one that spends capital dollars on projects that benefit both states - not just New York.
..... Yet the changes will have an outsizes impact on NJ Transit - and by extension tis customers and New Jersey residents, who will likely bear the brunt of the added costs.
..... While some argue that the terminal largely benefits New Jersey commuters and they should therefore pay more for it, others say the terminal will benefit New York as much - or more.
..... More than 200,000 travelers use the Port Authority Bus Terminal on a normal weekday, which means it delivers tourists and their sales tax dollars to New York and even more workers and their income taxes to jobs in New York City.
..... Plus, the terminal shields residents on city streets from thousands of idling diesel buses, while also reducing traffic and pollution by encouraging mass transit.

What's the rub

..... Once these new and higher fees and toll kikes go into effect this July, [2026] NJ Transit predicts, it will substantially increase its annual payments to the Port authority.
..... NJ Transit projects that it will pay roughly $36.2 million in fiscal year 2027 in tolls and fees to the Port Authority, up from the $22.4 million the agency paid in fiscal year 2025. tolls to use the Lincoln Tunnel for two axle and three axle buses alone will see 17?% and 20% average annual increases, respectively.
..... Asked how NJ Transit is preparing to budget for that, spokesman Jim Smith said it's "premature" to speculate on whether service cuts, bigger fare increases or other drastic measures will be required.
..... "Like all non-discretionary increases in the operating budget, thus will be part of the budget discussion and process with the Legislature before the FY27 budget is finalized," Smith said.
..... Seth Stein, a Port authority spokesman, said, "these bus fees are a small piece of a larger puzzle that allows us to pay for a new, world-class bus terminal that will serve bus riders for generations to come."
..... Most Port authority facilities - such as ports and airports - rely on hefty user fees or tolls to pay for those operations, but in those cases fees are largely paid by profitable corporations and then passed on to the customers.
..... In the case of NJ Transit, it's not so simple.
..... About 82% of bus movements in the Port Authority Bus Terminal - or more than 4,000 buses a day - are operated by NJ Transit, an agency subsidized by taxpayers to provide affordable public transportation.
..... NJ Transit already has in place a new, controversial 3% annual fare increase to keep up with rising costs from inflation, labor and materials.
..... The question is: Why is NJ Transit facing significant fee hikes from a bi-state agency to help pay for a bus terminal that benefits both New Jersey and New York?

Outdated infrastructure

..... For more than a decade, New Jersey bus riders and tourists have endured the indignity of commuting through a 76-year-old bus terminal: Leaky ceilings, crammed waiting areas, confusing gate systems, and dizzying lines that wrap around hallways and down escalators.
..... The terminal functions admirably - considering that it has been dimmed obsolete since 2014 - but simple hiccups lead to delays and unpredictable commutes. that translates into losing time with family. late fees for tardy day care pickups or missed appointments.
..... Finally, after years of complaints, political heandwringing and eventually a robust public outreach process, the Port authority began constructions on a new $11 billion bus terminal and bus storage area to replace the outdated terminal.
..... Discussions about how to pay for its hefty price tag have largely focused on a PILOT agreement reached with the city to raise $2 billion through commercial developments built on or near the bus terminal property and a $1.89 billion federal loan.
..... The role of new bus carrier fees and increases were not mentioned until the new capital plan proposed was presented in November. [2025]
..... Stein, the Port Authority spokesman, said the fee "are expected to generate roughly $500 million in capital capacity over the next decade, which represents less than 5% of the approximately 411 billion cost of the new Midtown Bus Terminal. More than 95% of the funding for the project comes from Port authority capital and loans."
..... The Port Authority also subsidizes more than 90% of the current terminal's operation, because - much like the PATH subway system it also runs - the bus terminal loses money. Airport Facilities, by contrast, turn a profit.

'A shock to the system'

..... While NJ Transit is by far the largest user of the bus terminal, several private carriers, such as Coach USA, Greyhound, Peter Pan and Academy, will feel the new fee and toll prices.
..... Dan Rodriquez, vice president of public affairs for Paramus-based Coach USA, said the company was not notified by the Port authority of the new fees or increases.
..... "It's very disconcerting," Rodriguez said. "This will be a shock to the system."
..... Coach's various lines have 60 to 70 buses that use the terminal daily and pay more than $100,000 in fees each year to the Port Authority.
..... Rodriquez said these rising expenses will have a significant impact on Coach - and come as the company is rebuilding after going through bankruptcy in 2024.
..... Like Coach, many private carriers have struggled, downsized or closed after the COVID-19 pandemic decimated ridership. But unlike airlines and public transit agencies hat got billions in federal pandemic aid, private bus companies received little.
..... "We're trying to keep our mode of transportation the most affordable mode of transportation, and in order to do that we maintain very tight operations," Rodriquez said. "It's going to be difficult for us not to look ways to offer that cost - so we're hopeful that we can work with the Port Authority moving forward."
..... Another promises of the new bus terminal is to get more buses off Manhattan streets. They include Megabus, which has lines of buses on 11th Avenue, and Boxcar, which odes drop-offs and pickups along 42nd street in midtown and along Madison Avenue.
..... The new bus terminal will be able to handle 1,011 bus trips during each rush hour, up from the 764 it handles now, and it will be able to store 350 buses, which it can't do presently.
..... But if costs are too high, will those private companies use the new terminal?
..... The opaque process of getting a gate and a confusing fee system don't help, either, said Boxcar's Joe Colangelo.
..... Colangel inquired about getting a gate at the Port Authority Bus Terminal six years ago after founding his Chatham-based commuter bus app company in 2017, but it was a "black box." He hasn't looked into it since.
..... Axel Hellman, COO of New York-based OurBus, said the Port Authority never notified him about the changing and increasing toll structure or new fees. Hellman's company provides fixed-route service and has one route that operates out of the Port authority Bus Terminal, but most routes pick up and drop off on the street, including on 11th Avenue.
..... "All of the additional fies for the bus companies will end up having to be passed on to the public and the commuters," Hellman said. "there's no other way, so ticket prices will have to go up."
..... In 2021, Hellman followed the Port Authority's bid process to get assigned available gates at the bus terminal, but after a lengthy process and lots of paperwork, he never heard back. those vacant gates are still unused, and more have open up, he said.
..... "If the Port authority wants to interference revenue from the Port Authority Bus Terminal, they should let more bus companies use it," Hellman said. "there are plenty of bus companies that are not allowed to go in there that would pay."

So what are these fees?

..... There are currently three fees the Port Authority charges NJ Transit and private bus companies to sue the terminal.
..... If buses come to the terminal from less than 30 miles away, they are known as short-haul buses and pay a smaller charge than those traveling more than 30 miles, where are referred to as long-haul buses.
..... Long-haul buses pay more because they often stay in the terminal for longer periods, according to the Port Authority.
..... Here is a breakdown of the fees:
* Per-trip departure fees $3.24 for short-haul buses; $59.18 for long-haul buses.
* Monthly gate fees: $572.80 for short-haul buses; $1,997.35 for long-haul buses.
* Monthly short-haul platform position fees: $214.77.
..... This summer, [2026] the Port Authority is adding a new "arrival" fee. Plus, the fees will escalate each year more than they did before and some fees will escalate still more sharply once the new terminal opens in 2035. Departure and arrival fees are charged on buses with passengers.
..... The new fee structure starts in July, [2026] but the full effect of the new fees and escalations will be felt starting in 2027. Here's what the fee breakdown will look like in 2027:
* Per-trip departure fees: $4 for short-haul buses, $32 for long-haul buses.
* Per trip-arrival fees: $4 for short-haul buses; $32 for long-haul buses
* Monthly short-haul platform positions fees: $232.72.
..... The bus companies also pay the Port authority's Lincoln tunnel toll, another fee structure that changed.
..... All buses used to be charged the same amount, indexed to inflation, but now there will be three classes of buses that will see drastic increases in tolls between 2026 and 2027.
* Class 8A minibuses: Increase from $21 in 2026 to 427 in 2034, a 28% increase during that time, or on average 3.5% annually.
* Class 8B two-axle buses: Increase from $21 in 2026 to $50 in 2034, a 138% increase during that time, or on average about 17% annually.
* Class 9 three-axle buses: Increase from $21 in 2026 to $55 in 2034, a 161% increase during that time, or on average about 20% annually.

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