State Says ‘Not So Fast’ On New Albany Bus Station
It could be terminal.
The state Office of General Services is skeptical of an ambitious plan to repurpose public space near the State Capitol into a bus station, citing logistical and safety concerns.
The proposal, backed by Albany City Auditor Sam Fein and marketing executive Joe Bonilla, would bring Greyhound, Trailways and Peter Pan buses under one roof at the Empire State Plaza so that they are no longer split between two locations adjacent to each other in the road-bound southeastern corner of downtown Albany: Greyhound operates from the aging terminal at 34 Hamilton St., while Trailways and Peter Pan pick up passengers at a trailer-based bus stop at 66 Green St.
The Empire State Plaza, meanwhile, already has an enclosed bus deck and bays used by the Capital District Transportation Authority for local service. Fein and Bonilla want to expand that existing infrastructure to accommodate intercity buses, while using a shuttered KeyBank branch as a shared ticketing and customer-service area.
The proposal is aimed at travelers coming to and from the Capital Region, not just Albany commuters. The proposed terminal would serve intercity routes to New York City, Boston, Hartford, Syracuse, Buffalo, the Adirondacks and other destinations throughout the Northeast. Local buses, including BusPlus and Northway Xpress service operated by the Capital District Transportation Authority, would continue using their existing Concourse bays, allowing intercity passengers to transfer to local transit without leaving the Plaza.
The plan’s backers argue that putting all of that service in one location would give the Capital Region a more-accessible and dignified front door for bus travelers, while taking advantage of infrastructure the state already owns.
But they need approval from the Office of General Services to get any traction. And so far, the road looks treacherous.
“The Empire State Plaza’s bus turnaround is already heavily utilized by the regional transportation authority, Capital District Transportation Authority, and serves as a critical access point for first responders and their vehicles,” Joe Brill, the agency’s spokesperson, said in a statement. “Adding intercity bus traffic could impact not only the public transit services relied upon daily by state employees and visitors but also compromise the Plaza’s ability to efficiently manage responses to emergency situations.”
He added the project would pose “profound challenges,” and “significant financial, structural, operational and security barriers.”
Even with the much-touted removal of red tape for many infrastructure projects in New York during the recent budget cycle, the department would need an extensive review process to determine whether Fein and Bonilla’s idea was feasible from a financial and logistical perspective.
The proposal is time-sensitive, too. Greyhound’s lease at the current Albany bus terminal expires in April. Naturally, negotiations are underway between the transit providers and Capitalize Albany, which owns the current terminal and hopes to demolish it one day as part of a larger redevelopment effort. But if either party wants to shift gears, the clock is ticking.
Fein told Streetsblog that there are some open questions in his and Bonilla’s proposal — such as who will operate the terminal day to day — but the idea makes too much sense not to pursue.
“A lot of the city of Albany has an interest in having a bus station here. Albany County does. The Capital District Transportation Authority, they have an interest,” he said. “It makes a lot of sense for a transit agency to be involved, but the Office of General Services too. The state has an interest in having a bus station that goes to the state Capitol.”
In other words, Fein sees the Plaza as a logical destination for people traveling to Albany by bus, particularly those whose business is with state government. The location would also put intercity bus travelers in the center of the city’s major civic and entertainment district, rather than leaving them at one of two separate curbside locations downtown.
Fein said he was surprised to hear the state bring up local transit as a reason to throw cold water on the idea, as he has been in contact with the Capital District Transportation Authority and the agency was interested in the concept.
In a statement to Streetsblog, the Capital District Transportation Authority said it remained open to discussions about improving regional transportation access.
“Capital Region Transportation Authority remains committed to participating in discussions with regional partners, including Office of General Services, that enhance mobility and connectivity throughout the Capital Region,” said spokesperson Emily Devito. “Transit-oriented development continues to be a key priority for the authority, and we welcome opportunities to collaborate with regional partners on solutions that improve transportation access.”
That language also points to a broader question surrounding the proposal: whether the Empire State Plaza is simply a place to park six intercity bus berths, or whether the project could become part of a larger effort to make better use of the largely state-owned complex outside of normal business hours.
The proposal’s backers envision the latter. Their plan would put intercity buses in an enclosed, climate-controlled space that is already connected to the Plaza’s buildings and attractions. They argue that the terminal could bring more people into the complex during evenings and weekends, when much of the state government campus is quiet.
The plan would use six designated intercity bus berths, with a two-bus staging lane available to help manage arrivals. The proposal calls for roughly 15 minutes of boarding and unloading time per berth and 12 to 15 “design peak movements” per hour. According to the plan, buses would enter the enclosed deck from the South Mall Arterial, use the existing roadway and leave without needing to travel on downtown surface streets.
The proposal’s backers say passengers would wait in a glass-enclosed hall and board through controlled doors, keeping pedestrians separate from bus traffic. The State Police already have a presence on the Plaza deck, although they would not be directly responsible for operating or securing the proposed terminal.
The proposal’s funding would ideally come from the $200 million already allocated by the state for Albany revitalization efforts. The backers argue that using an existing deck, waiting area and former bank branch would make the project substantially cheaper than constructing an entirely new bus terminal.
There was already a pitch for a new bus station coming from former Albany County Executive Dan McCoy. He eyed an abandoned McDonald’s at 625 Broadway in downtown Albany, but community uproar over public safety and traffic capacity scuttled the proposal in June 2026 before the project could move forward. Fein said their plan would cost significantly less than the $6 million to $8 million quoted for McCoy’s plan because of its reliance on existing infrastructure.
The two proposals raise a basic question for Albany: Is the better answer to the city’s long-running bus terminal problem a brand-new building downtown, or a new use for infrastructure that is already sitting beneath the Empire State Plaza?
Fein and Bonilla think the answer is obvious.
“If they are serious about opening up the plaza and better connecting it to the rest of the city, then they need to be willing to overcome the challenges,” Fein said.
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