National
transport terminal (for
all buses serving the interior parts of the country and
Panama City) was constructed between
the airstrip and part of the North Corridor toll highway
(on part of what had been transferred to
Panama October 1, 1979). (The 12-kilometer or
7-mile North Corridor toll highway runs between Albrook/Gaillard
Highway (now named Omar Torrijos Highway) to the
Transisthmian Highway near Tinajitas with a separate
branch to Madden Dam area near the Transisthmian Highway
enroute to the Atlantic side of the isthmus.) Previously all buses servicing the
interior parts of the country as well as Panama City congregated at open lots
behind the Plaza Cinco de Mayo (Fifth of May Plaza) in
Panama City with no public conveniences for the passengers.
The terminal, constructed at a cost of $25 million and 19
acres in size, was designed to serve 2,200 buses daily and
110,000 persons daily traveling to and from points virtually
throughout the country.
(Value of the total land
adjacent to the airstrip for the terminal building and
parking lots - $5,334,254 - lease and investment -- ARI)
National
Transport Terminal - Back Side
[Photo courtesy of
ARI from its website]
National
Transport Terminal
Front
side facing the back side of the Abrook Shopping
Mall
One side
of the National Transport Terminal servicing all local buses
(Panama
City and outlying areas); the other side service buses to
and
from the
interior parts of the country and Costa Rica. On the
left is the
backside
of Albrook Mall.
[Photo
courtesy of Allan Hawkins, June 2006]
Interior
of the ground floor of the National Transport Center with
ticket
booths, restaurants, stores, and other facilities
[Photo
courtesy of Allan Hawkins, June 2006]
SCROLL
