Bridge and Tunnel (often abbreviated B&T or BNT) is a term – often used pejoratively – to describe people who live in communities surrounding the island of Manhattan in New York City, and commute to it for work or entertainment.
Though the term originates from the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority,[citation needed] it has come to encompass all people who commute from outside of New York City proper, including Connecticut, Long Island, New Jersey, and the Hudson Valley.
[2] The earliest known instance of this phrase in print is the December 13, 1977, edition of The New York Times:[3] "On the weekends, we get all the bridge and tunnel people who try to get in," he said.
Elizabeth Fondaras, a pillar of the city's conservative social scene, who has just told Steve Rubell she had never tried to get into Studio 54 for fear of being rejected, asked who the bridge and tunnel people were.
Residents of the Peninsula and South Bay take commuter trains (Caltrain or BART, each of which has several tunnels) and freeways (I-280 and US 101, which do not) to visit city hot-spots but do not actually live in San Francisco.