History Queens Boulevard Line (surface)

1 history

1.1 streetcar service
1.2 decline , conversion bus service
1.3 mta takeover

history







streetcar service

in 1909, manhattan , queens traction company granted perpetual franchise city build streetcar line along queens boulevard towards queens-nassau county border. on march 30, 1909, queensboro bridge opened between long island city, queens , midtown manhattan. beginning on september 17 of year, several trolley lines began service on bridge. construction on queens boulevard line began on november 2, 1912. on january 29, 1913, manhattan , queens traction company began service on bridge , along queens boulevard between second avenue , intersection of 48th street , greenpoint avenue in woodside, queens, near current 46th street – bliss street subway station. line extended east winfield (now subsection of woodside) on april 26, grand avenue in elmhurst on july 28, , 71st avenue in forest hills on august 27. on january 23, 1914, line extended hillside avenue @ end of queens boulevard. on january 31 extended south jamaica lirr station. in april 1916, shuttle service instituted between jamaica station , south street (now south road). line extended along sutphin boulevard final terminus @ 109th avenue , 157th street on april 26, 1916. in 1917, spur of line along van dam street in long island city (called van dam industrial spur or industrial center line) inaugurated.

the queens boulevard line planned extend along 109th avenue , central avenue (later known linden boulevard) st. albans , cambria heights @ nassau county line, total distance of 15.5 miles (24.9 km). in 1918, extension of line constructed east along 109th avenue 167th street (near merrick boulevard). these tracks, however, never used in service.

decline , conversion bus service

beginning in 1920s, many streetcar lines in queens , rest of city began replaced buses, particularly after unification of city s 3 primary transit companies in june 1940. queens boulevard line began losing patronage , profits in 1910s, due city-imposed 5-cent fare, , competition parallel elevated rail , subway service running through queensboro plaza. line ran through sparsely populated territory, leading low passenger use. municipal buses replaced trolleys on temporary basis during worker strike in august 1920. later year on december 10, public service commission permitted railway charge two-zone fare (10 cents) travel past grand avenue in either direction. later extended east old mill road (now 63rd road) in november 1923. around time, city began undertake major widening project queens boulevard. railway company, however, refused allow city remove trolley tracks road, delaying project decade until 1930s.

as part of widening project, in 1925 proposed replace trolley franchise bus service. 1927, civic groups communities along queens boulevard line began push takeover of line s operations fifth avenue coach company convert bus service. in october 1935, city announced plans convert line bus route, part of deal railway remove tracks , facilitate renovation project. in 1936 railroad company reorganize manhattan , queens bus corporation. on december 13 of year, ten-year bus franchise awarded company office of mayor fiorello h. la guardia. in exchange, company pay city $318,000 in taxes, , 2 parties ended 2 decades of litigation on removal of trolley tracks. bus service began on april 17, 1937, replacing trolley service along queens boulevard. operations of manhattan , queens transit company acquired green bus lines in 1943, , q60 became part of green lines operations.

the q60 1 of busiest bus routes in green lines system, along q10 along lefferts boulevard. in 1999, new york city department of transportation (nycdot) planned launch tracking , countdown clock program on q60 route, separate mta s efforts install bus tracking system. dot planned put in operation 2002, system never implemented.

mta takeover

on january 9, 2006, mta bus company took on operations of green lines routes, part of city s takeover of remaining privately operated bus routes. under mta in august 2007, overnight service on q60 added.

on november 1, 2008, on 20 stops along q60 route eliminated. according mta, improve travel times , maintain 750 feet (230 m) of space between bus stops dictated regulations. changes led complaints local communities, due many senior citizens use route.

on april 19, 2010, alternate weekday daytime , evening q60 buses began short-turning @ archer avenue , sutphin boulevard, instead of continuing south jamaica.