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 51,900 per weekday as of the first 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 first quarter of 2024.
Buffalo Central Terminal is a historic former railroad station in Buffalo, New York. An active station from 1929 to 1979, the 17-story Art Deco style station was designed by architects Fellheimer & Wagner for the New York Central Railroad. The Central Terminal is located in the city of Buffalo's Broadway/Fillmore district. Closed since 1979, several attempts to redevelop the site were unsuccessful. In February 2024 a new development team was formed to plan a reuse for the terminal.
Seneca is a Buffalo Metro Rail station located in the 200 block of Main Street between Seneca and Swan Streets in the Free Fare Zone, which allows passengers free travel between Erie Canal Harbor and Fountain Plaza station. Passengers continuing northbound past Fountain Plaza are required to provide proof-of-payment. On June 27, 2019, The Buffalo News announced that Merchants Insurance, which has been located at 260 Main Street since the 1960s, bought the naming rights for $161,000 for initially five years, with the option to renew for another five years.
Church 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 Erie Canal Harbor 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.
Special Events is the southernmost station in the Buffalo Metro Rail system located at the corner of Main and Perry Streets in the Free Fare Zone, which allows passengers free travel between this station and Fountain Plaza station. Passengers continuing northbound past Fountain Plaza are required to have proof-of-payment. Special Events station is located next to the KeyBank Center, which it serves immediately before and after an event. If there is no event at KeyBank Center, Erie Canal Harbor station serves as the southern terminus. The tracks continue to the NFTA Rail Maintenance Yard.
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 Erie Canal Harbor 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.
Fountain Plaza is a Buffalo Metro Rail station located in the 500 block of Main Street between Huron and Chippewa Streets. Fountain Plaza serves the northern section of the Buffalo Downtown Central Business District and the Buffalo Theater District since the permanent closing of Theater station on February 18, 2013. Fountain Plaza is at the north end of the Free Fare Zone, where customers traveling north are required to have proof-of-payment.
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.
The Metro Rail Maintenance Yard or "South Park Terminal" houses Buffalo Metro Rail's cars in a train shed at the former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad terminal in the Cobblestone District of Buffalo, New York. The property is located at the southernmost fringe of the Central Business District. The station was built in 1917, and was designed to handle both steam trains and steamships. The storage and maintenance facility was converted to its present condition in 1982, following the demolition of the former main terminal concourse building "headhouse" of the DL&W Terminal in 1979.
Buffalo–Depew station is an Amtrak train station in Depew, New York, a suburb of Buffalo. It was built in 1979 to replace the Buffalo Central Terminal as Buffalo's main Amtrak station. It is located 10 miles (16 km) east of downtown Buffalo.
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.
Canalside, formerly known as Canal Side and also referred to as Erie Canal Harbor, is a commercial and residential district in downtown Buffalo, New York. It is the recreation of the western terminus of the Erie Canal, which was destroyed in the early 20th century. Canalside is situated on the Buffalo River, in an area that was historically home to the Seneca people.
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.
LECOM Harborcenter is an American mixed-use development in Buffalo, New York, developed by Pegula Sports and Entertainment. The building occupies a full 1.7 acre city block formerly known as the Webster Block, directly across from and connected to the KeyBank Center and Canalside. The building is also near the southern terminus of the Erie Canal Harbor station.
Transportation in Buffalo, New York is dominated by automobile use, but other modes of transportation exist in the city.
Empire Service, Maple Leaf (at Buffalo–Exchange Street)
