Buffalo Metropolitan Transportation Center | |
---|---|
Bus Transportation Center | |
General information | |
Location | 181 Ellicott St. Buffalo, NY |
Coordinates | 42°53′00″N78°52′19″W / 42.88333°N 78.87194°W |
Owned by | NFTA |
Bus operators | NFTA New York Trailways |
Construction | |
Structure type | Low rise bus terminal with an eight story office tower |
Bicycle facilities | Yes |
Accessible | Yes |
Architect | CannonDesign |
History | |
Opened | 1977 |
The Buffalo Metropolitan Transportation Center is located on the southeast corner of North Division and Ellicott Streets in Downtown Buffalo, New York. The transportation center is open 24 hours daily.
Managed by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA), which also uses the transit center as its headquarters, it operates as a major transportation hub for a number of NFTA Metro bus routes, as well as inter-city bus services. Its location is also of importance in that this terminal normally is the first or last stop in the United States on the busy Toronto-New York City bus corridor in the United States (the exceptions being a re-routed Buffalo to Toronto runs serving Buffalo Niagara International Airport on the way to the Rainbow Bridge, where it crosses into Ontario). The closest two Canadian bus stations (though not served by all trips) are Fort Erie (located at a Robomart gas station at 22 Princess Street, at Waterloo Street) or the more frequently served Niagara Falls Transit Terminal at Bridge and Erie Streets in downtown Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Built in 1977, the architectural firm of CannonDesign created a terminal that is a "pleasant and even exciting space to experience, with views of travelers, buses and the city beyond afforded by comparatively large areas of glazing". [1] It replaced an older Greyhound Station, located at 672 Main Street, near Tupper. After the Main Street station had closed, it became a police station for the Buffalo Theater District, and is currently used partially as the Alleyway Theatre [2]
Aside from the transportation center being the main office for the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority and the Buffalo area base office for Greyhound Lines, Inc., there are a number of service based businesses for passengers and employees of the terminal.
In the past, Hardee's and Burger King had an outlet in the terminal that was later turned into a "Travelers Cafe", both operated by Greyhound Lines. The space for the restaurant also had been converted into an indoor waiting area for passengers waiting for local bus service at the corner of North Division and Ellicott. It has since been closed. The NFTA presently uses the area for storage.
Additionally, a gift shop existed for a number of years, but has been vacated and renovated into a larger office area for the NFTA Transit Police sub-station.
Board on Ellicott Street at North Division Street
Board on North Division Street at Ellicott Street
Nearly all buses operating into Downtown Buffalo come within a short walk (maximum of three city blocks) of the transportation center.
In the later part of 1999, proposals were made for an updating of the terminal, including a new shopping area, restaurant, and updated passenger waiting area for NFTA Metro passengers, as well as intercity bus passengers.
The Buffalo News continued stories on this, as well as progress made on the possible creation of an intermodal transportation facility on the site of the Buffalo War Memorial Auditorium or at Buffalo Central Terminal, effectively linking Amtrak Trains with intercity buses, and local buses "under one roof" in a style similar to the William F. Walsh Regional Transportation Center partway across the state in Syracuse, New York.
Buffalo Niagara International Airport is in Cheektowaga, New York, United States. The airport serves Buffalo, New York and Niagara Falls, New York in the United States, and the southern Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. It is the third-busiest airport in the state of New York and the busiest inside of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area. It is about 11 miles (18 km) east of Downtown Buffalo and 60 miles (97 km) southeast of Toronto. The airport covers 1,000 acres (400 ha).
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midwest, along with the intermediate cities of Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Rochester and Syracuse. New York Central was headquartered in New York City's New York Central Building, adjacent to its largest station, Grand Central Terminal.
Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY includes the cities of Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Jamestown, and the surrounding suburbs, as well as the outlying rural areas of Niagara Frontier, and Chautauqua-Alleghany. Many would also place Rochester and the Genesee Valley in the region, although those legally belong in the Finger Lakes Region and are separate from Western New York Region.
The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The NFTA, as an authority, oversees a number of subsidiaries, including the NFTA Metro bus and rail system, the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport, the Niagara Falls International Airport and NFTA Small Boat Harbor. The NFTA Metro bus and rail system is a multi-modal agency, utilizing various vehicle modes, using the brand names: NFTA Metro Bus, NFTA Metro Rail, NFTA Metrolink and NFTA PAL. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 15,429,900, or about 55,100 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024.
Buffalo Metro Rail is the public transit rail system in Buffalo, New York, operated by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA). The system consists of a single, 6.4-mile-long (10.3 km) light rail line that runs for most of the length of Main Street from KeyBank Center in Canalside to the south campus of the University at Buffalo in the northeast corner of the city. The first section of the line opened in October 1984; the current system was completed in November 1986. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 2,433,300, or about 8,000 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024.
Church station is a Buffalo Metro Rail station located in the 300 block of Main Street in the Free Fare Zone, which allows passengers free travel between Canalside and Fountain Plaza. Passengers continuing northbound past Fountain Plaza are required to have proof-of-payment. Church is the closest to the Buffalo Metropolitan Transportation Center, located two blocks east at Ellicott and North Division Streets.
Lafayette Square is a Buffalo Metro Rail station near City Hall and is near the center of the Buffalo Central Business District at Lafayette Square located in the 400 block of Main Street in the Free Fare Zone, which allows passengers free travel between Canalside station and Fountain Plaza station. Passengers continuing northbound past Fountain Plaza are required to have proof-of-payment. Lafayette Square station is the closest to the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, located one block east at Washington and Clinton Streets. On February 28, 2019, The Buffalo News announced that Evans Bank, which opened its downtown headquarters in the Main-Court Building the previous October, bought the naming rights to the station for nearly $161,000 for five years and nearly $352,000 if extended to 10 years.
Allen/Medical Campus is a Buffalo Metro Rail station located at the corner of Main and Allen Streets at the northern end of Buffalo, New York's downtown and is the last underground station to the south requiring payment before entering the Free Fare Zone. The station was temporarily closed in 2015 to incorporate a new building at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences into the station's aboveground entrances.
Utica is a Buffalo Metro Rail station located at the corner of Main and East Utica Streets. The station was formerly known at the shortened "Utica" name until December 29, 2021, when it was named as the Robert Traynham Coles Utica Station, named after a deceased architect that worked in the design of the Utica station.
University is a Buffalo Metro Rail station located near the intersection of Main Street and Niagara Falls Boulevard on the University at Buffalo South Campus. It is a major transfer point between Metro Rail and many city and suburban bus routes and offers a unique "Kiss and Ride" facility on the top level, above the mezzanine. This allows drivers of automobiles a separate area to drop off passengers, so they do not add to the traffic congestion from buses at the station during rush-hour periods and a large park-and-ride facility directly to the east of the station. Since University station serves as a terminal, immediately south is a double crossover. From May 20, 1985, to November 10, 1986, due to construction issues at LaSalle station, Amherst Street station served as the northern terminus. Since November 10, 1986, University station has served as the northern terminus.
New York State Route 33 (NY 33) is an east–west state highway in western New York in the United States. The route extends for just under 70 miles (113 km) from NY 5 in Buffalo in the west to NY 31 in Rochester in the east. It is the only state highway that directly connects both cities, although it is rarely used today for that purpose. The westernmost 10 miles (16 km) of NY 33 in Buffalo and the neighboring town of Cheektowaga have been upgraded into the Kensington Expressway. This section of NY 33 is one of several freeways leading out of downtown and serves as a main route to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.
The William F. Walsh Regional Transportation Center (RTC) is an Amtrak intermodal transit station serving the Syracuse area. It is owned and operated by Intermodal Transportation Center, Inc, a subsidiary of Centro, and is also served by Greyhound Lines, Megabus, and Trailways. Local and regional bus transportation is provided by Centro. Various taxi firms provide service to the Center, as well.
Buffalo–Exchange Street station is an Amtrak station in Buffalo, New York. The station serves six Amtrak trains daily: two daily Empire Service round trips between Niagara Falls and New York City and one Maple Leaf round trip between Toronto and New York City. There is also daily Amtrak Thruway bus service at the station, operating between the Buffalo Metropolitan Transportation Center and Jamestown station in Jamestown, New York, via Dunkirk and Fredonia, and serving the communities along the southeast shore of Lake Erie.
Since the Buffalo Metro Rail light rail was proposed in the 1970s, there have been multiple proposals for expanding the system, which is currently a single 6.4-mile (10.3 km) long line. Public officials, agencies and advocacy groups have created plans, with the most recent and extensive being an extension to the town of Amherst. Groups have formed on both sides of the issue.
The International Railway Company (IRC) was a transportation company formed in a 1902 merger between several Buffalo-area interurban and street railways. The city railways that merged were the West Side Street Railway, the Crosstown Street Railway and the Buffalo Traction Company. The suburban railroads that merged included the Buffalo & Niagara Electric Street Railway, and its subsidiary the Buffalo, Lockport & Olcott Beach Railway; the Buffalo, Depew & Lancaster Railway; and the Niagara Falls Park & River Railway. Later the IRC acquired the Niagara Gorge Railroad (NGRR) as a subsidiary, which was sold in 1924 to the Niagara Falls Power Company. The NGRR also leased the Lewiston & Youngstown Frontier Railroad.
Trailways of New York is one of the largest privately held transportation companies based in New York State. It employs over 450 people and carries passengers more than 80 million miles annually.
The Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo Railroad was an electric interurban railway that was constructed between Rochester, New York, and Lockport, New York, connecting to the International Railway Co. at Lockport for service into Buffalo. Opened in 1909 as the Buffalo, Lockport and Rochester Railway, the route followed the Erie Canal and the New York Central Railroad's Falls Road branch for most of its length. The direct route took a little over two hours to travel from Lockport from Rochester. Most trains were local routes and took 2 hours 35 minutes. There were trains between the main stations every hour, however there were trains between Rochester and Brockport every 30 minutes and sometimes every 15 minutes. For a brief period of time, the railway was part of the Beebe Syndicate of affiliated interurban railways stretching from Syracuse to Buffalo. Entering receivership in 1917, it was reorganized as the Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo Railroad in 1919. After years of struggling with declining revenue during the Depression years, the railway's last day of service was April 30, 1931.
Transportation in Buffalo, New York is dominated by automobile use, but other modes of transportation exist in the city.
Ithaca Bus Station, also referred to as Ithaca Bus Terminal, is an intercity bus station in Ithaca, the county seat and only city in Tompkins County, New York. The Prairie-style building, located west of North Fulton Street between West Seneca Street and West State Street, was designed by architect Frank J. Nies in 1912 as a train station of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. DL&W ceased passenger operations in 1942, and Greyhound Bus Lines acquired the station in 1967. The station building accommodates waiting area with seats, ticketing and package express office, and restrooms.
The station closed in October, 2018 due to construction, retirement of the station operators, and changing infrastructure in the area. Buses are now boarding downtown for the time being until long-term plans are made. The City of Ithaca designated the station as a local landmark in January, 2019.