Private bus carriers are ubiquitous in some NYC neighborhoods, raising community concerns about noise and air pollution.  amNewYork recently picked up on the trend, taking a look at  scofflaw bus companies in Chinatown and sparking an NYPD crackdown on illegally parked vehicles this week. But the enforcement surge is unlikely to be sustained, and is not the comprehensive reform the area needs.

Earlier this summer, the Tri-State Campaign highlighted the lack of a formalized parking system for private buses on NYC streets in the report Express Route to Better Bus Service, and has been meeting with local elected and agency officials to discuss ways of managing this problem.  The biggest impediment is finding a parking spot or garage.  NYCDOT Commissioner Sadik-Khan told amNewYork that storage space is “a top priority but real estate is scarce.”  Some proposals for downtown bus storage have been met with community resistance, while others are being held back by cost.

Lower Manhattan isn’t the only area with a space crunch. In Express Route, the Campaign recommended that the Port Authority move forward quickly on adding capacity to the PA Bus Terminal and constructing a nearby bus garage. Both are musts for the thousands of buses that come into the city daily and the millions of annual bus passengers that travel through the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels and across the George Washington Bridge.