South Station Bus Terminal

The South Station Bus Terminal, owned by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, is the main gateway for long-distance coach buses in Boston, Massachusetts. It is located at 700 Atlantic Avenue, at the intersection with Beach Street, in the Chinatown/Leather District neighborhoods. The facility is immediately south-southwest of the main MBTA/Amtrak South Station terminal, and is located above the station platforms and tracks.HistoryThe building, completed in 1995, serves as a nexus to consolidate several intercity coach bus locations serving Boston into a single central location. This shift facilitated the removal of the main coach bus terminal at the heart of Dewey Square, a shift from the former Greyhound coach Bus terminal at 10 St. James Avenue in the Back Bay area, and the transferral of various curbside Chinatown bus lines into this one facility. Continental Trailways service also previously operated from a terminal in the Back Bay, until sometime in the 1980s.A second phase of construction, to expand the coach bus terminal, is proposed as part of the South Station Tower project.FacilitiesThe bus station building has a mixture of glass and metal on its exterior, with mainly a red-granite stone and metallic-surfaced interior. Situated just south of and separate from the main South Station train terminal, the bus terminal is strikingly vertical in design, with five floors. Entry is via a long escalator, or a large glass-sided elevator with exterior views. The passageway from the upper entrance lobby towards the main hall has a series of large dark-tinted windows overlooking the railway tracks below.