Every number on this site is public. Here is where each one comes from, so you — and the officials we’re asking to act — can check it. Last reviewed September 2026.
~8,000 buses and ~225,000 people move through the Port Authority Bus Terminal on an average weekday — the busiest bus terminal in the world. It opened in 1950 and hit capacity after its 1979 expansion.
“The terminal serves about 8,000 buses and 225,000 people on an average weekday… The terminal reached its peak capacity following the North Wing’s opening in 1979.”
Source: Port Authority Bus Terminal — Wikipedia (see also the Port Authority’s own project site, portauthoritybuilds.com).
NJ Transit and Port Authority officials told Bergen County riders directly that adding buses will not fix the overcrowding, because the terminal cannot absorb more buses at peak.
Mike Kilcoyne, then VP and general manager of NJ Transit bus operations: “Everything that we have with wheels is rolling. We don’t have buses sitting in the garage that we just don’t want to give you… everything we have is out there carrying passengers and they’re full.” And: “the Port Authority Bus Terminal couldn’t handle more buses during the peak rush hours.” The meeting was convened by then-Sen. Loretta Weinberg of Teaneck.
Source: Brenda Flanagan, “Transit officials tell commuters more buses won’t fix overcrowding,” NJTV News, June 2019 (archived copy).
Roughly 110 buses an hour run down Teaneck Road during the morning peak — about one every 70 seconds — and buses were already standing-room-only, with riders driving to earlier stops in other towns to get a seat.
“Riders claim the crowded buses can run late even when they’re rolling 110 buses an hour during the morning peak in Teaneck — that’s a bus every 70 seconds on Teaneck Road. It’s still standing room only.” A commuter: “For years it’s been standing room only in Palisades Park, so now people drive from Palisades Park to Leonia.” This describes conditions in 2019; NJ Transit has not published data showing the corridor has since gained peak capacity faster than demand.
Source: Brenda Flanagan, NJTV News, June 2019 (archived copy).
NJ Transit buses carried about 136 million trips in 2025, recovering from the pandemic faster than the rail system.
2025 ridership: 136,295,400 (American Public Transportation Association data).
The $10 billion replacement terminal is scheduled to fully open in 2032; interim bus staging on Dyer Avenue is not ready until 2028.
“New ramps and a bus storage facility are expected to be completed by 2028, with the full terminal opening in 2032.” A $1.89 billion federal grant was disbursed in January 2025; the project broke ground on May 29, 2025.
Source: 6sqft; Port Authority Bus Terminal — Wikipedia.
NJ Transit fares rose 15% in July 2024 — its first increase in nine years (the last was 2015) — and now rise automatically by about 3% every July (2025 and 2026 so far).
“Fares are rising 3% systemwide… part of a plan implemented two years ago to hike bus, train, and light rail prices automatically every year” after an initial hike of up to 15%.
Source: New Jersey Monitor.
NJ Transit went into fiscal year 2026 with a budget gap of roughly $1 billion — close to a third of its operating budget — leaning on a corporate transit fee whose collections have already slipped.
“The agency’s operating budget faces a nearly $1 billion budget deficit for FY 2026 — a shortfall that constitutes nearly one-third of its budget.” Federal pandemic relief was exhausted in FY2025.
Source: ROI-NJ; NJ Transit press releases.
If you believe any figure here is wrong or out of date, email oneseat@misterd.net and we will correct it. We would rather be precise than dramatic — the facts are bad enough on their own.