m1, m2, m3, m4 m1, m2, m4 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Fifth and Madison Avenues Line | |||
Overview | |||
System | MTA Regional Bus Operations | ||
Operator | Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority | ||
Garage | Mother Clara Hale Depot (M1) Manhattanville Depot (M2, M3, M4) | ||
Vehicle | New Flyer Xcelsior XDE40 Nova Bus LFS HEV (except M1) Orion VII NG HEV (except M1) | ||
Began service | 1832 (trolley) 1886 (bus) 1966 (current alignment) | ||
Route | |||
Locale | Manhattan, New York, U.S. | ||
Start | M1: SoHo – Grand Street M2-M3: East Village – 8th Street M4: Midtown – 5th Avenue-32nd Street | ||
Via | Madison Avenue (northbound) Fifth Avenue (southbound) 110th Street (except M1) | ||
End | M1: Harlem – 147th Street M2: Washington Heights – 168th Street M3: Fort George – 193rd Street M4: Fort Tryon Park – The Cloisters | ||
Length | M1 SB: 7.6 miles (12.2 km) [1] M2 SB: 9.3 miles (15.0 km) [2] M3 SB: 10.6 miles (17.1 km) [3] M4 SB: 9.8 miles (15.8 km) [4] | ||
Other routes | Q32 (Midtown – Jackson Heights via Roosevelt Avenue) M98 3rd/Lexington Avs/Washington Heights M101 3rd/Lexington/Amsterdam Avs/125th St M102 3rd/Lexington/Lenox Avs M103 3rd/Lexington Avs/Bowery | ||
Service | |||
Operates | 24 hours (M2) 4:50 AM- 12:50 AM (M1) 5:40 AM-12:00 AM (M3) 5:35 AM-11:20 PM (M4) | ||
Ridership | 2,324,726 (M1, 2023) 2,095,581 (M2, 2023) 2,926,679 (M3, 2023) 3,508,095 (M4, 2023) [5] | ||
Transfers | Yes | ||
Timetable | M1 M2 M3 M4 | ||
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The M1, M2, M3, and M4 are four local bus routes that operate along the one-way pair of Madison and Fifth Avenues in the borough of Manhattan in New York City between Greenwich Village and Harlem.
The routes are the successors to the New York and Harlem Railroad's Fourth and Madison Avenues Line, which began operations in 1832 as the first street railway in the world, and several lines of the Fifth Avenue Coach Company, a bus operator that started running on Fifth Avenue in 1886.
The M1, M2, M3, and M4 all run between Midtown or Lower Manhattan and Upper Manhattan, while the Q32 runs from Midtown north along Fifth and Madison Avenues and east over the Queensboro Bridge to Jackson Heights, Queens. The M4 terminates and originates near 32nd Street, while the Q32 begins at Penn Station, joining Madison Avenue at 32nd Street (northbound) and leaving Fifth Avenue at 37th Street (southbound). Thus, all four routes are on Fifth and Madison Avenues from 34th Street to 110th Street.
The M1 begins its route in SoHo at the intersection of Centre Street and Grand Street. It continues up Centre and Lafayette Streets, then 4th Avenue to Union Square, where it changes names to Union Square East. Union Square East continues past Union Square as Park Avenue South. The M1 turns off Park Avenue South at East 25th Street for one block, and then immediately turns right onto Madison Avenue. The M1 follows Madison Avenue all the way to East 135th Street, where it again turns left for one block, and then immediately turns right onto Fifth Avenue (becoming a two-way at this point). It travels up Fifth to West 139th Street, turns left for a block, and turns right onto Lenox Avenue to its terminus at 148th Street. The M1 travels south the same route, but entirely on Fifth Avenue between 139th Street and 8th Street (except for a short deviation around Marcus Garvey Park at 124th Street), then on Broadway from 8th Street to Grand Street. [6]
During weekdays, every other southbound trip terminates in East Village, Manhattan, using 8th Street (St. Marks Place) to travel between 5th and 4th Avenues. [6] All trips run to/from Grand Street on weekends. Some southbound trips may terminate at 5th Avenue and 42nd Street.
The M1 has a peak direction limited stop service on weekday rush hours, running to/from Grand Street and making limited stops between 8th Street and 110th Street. While the limited is running, local trips run to/from 8th Street; it is local at all other times. [6]
The M2 follows the same route as the M1 north until East 110th Street, where it turns west. It travels around Duke Ellington Circle and along Central Park North to Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and turns right (north). The M2 follows 7th Avenue (as it is locally known) until West 155th Street, where it turns left and then turns right onto Edgecombe Avenue. The M2 follows Edgecombe Avenue to West 165th Street, and terminates at West 168th Street and Audubon Avenue. It follows the same route south, except using Fifth Avenue instead of Madison. [7]
The M2 also has a limited-stop variant, making limited stops south of 110th Street with no local service during the daytime. At other times, it runs local only. [7] Some northbound buses may terminate at 7th Avenue and 145th Street.
The M3 follows the same route as the M2, except it continues west past Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard along West 110th Street to Manhattan Avenue. It follows Manhattan Avenue, which becomes St. Nicholas Avenue. At 190th Street, the northbound M3 turns east, then continues north along Amsterdam Avenue to a terminus at St. Nicholas Avenue and West 192nd Street. Southbound buses begin on St. Nicholas Avenue and West 192nd Street and continue down St. Nicholas Avenue, Manhattan Avenue, Central Park North, and Fifth Avenue. During late nights the M3 terminates at St. Nicholas Avenue and West 125th Street. [8]
The M4 begins at the intersection of East 32nd Street and Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. It turns left onto Madison Avenue and follows the same route as the M3 from here, except it continues west past Manhattan Avenue along West 110th Street, then Cathedral Parkway, to Broadway. The M4 turns north onto Broadway and travels along Broadway to West 165th Street. At 165th Street, the M4 turns left and then immediately turns right onto Fort Washington Avenue. The M4 continues up Ft. Washington Avenue to the entrance of Fort Tryon Park. When The Cloisters Museum is open, the M4 continues north along Margaret Corbin Drive to the entrance to the museum. [9]
M4 buses make limited-stops in the peak direction during weekday rush hours (downtown in the morning, uptown in the evening), making limited stops south of 157th Street while also making local stops along 110th Street. Local service runs at all other times. [9] Some northbound buses may terminate at Broadway and 135th Street.
The New York and Harlem Railroad (NY&H) was the first railroad in Manhattan, opening from City Hall north along Centre Street, Broome Street (northbound trains were later moved to Grand Street), the Bowery, Fourth Avenue, and Park Avenue to Harlem in the 1830s, and was extended southwest along Park Row to Broadway in 1852. A branch opened along 42nd Street and Madison Avenue to 73rd Street in 1870, and the NY&H began to operate streetcars along this route; it was later extended to Harlem.
Buses were substituted for streetcars by the Madison Avenue Coach Company in March 1936. The New York City Omnibus Corporation took over operations in 1951, and changed its name to Fifth Avenue Coach Lines in 1956; the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority took over operations in 1962.
When the bus that replaced the Lexington and Lenox Avenues Line was terminated, the Madison Avenue bus was extended west on 139th Street and north on Lenox Avenue to 147th Street. When Madison Avenue became one-way northbound, southbound traffic was moved to Fifth Avenue, replacing the original route of the Fifth Avenue Coach Company. The Fifth Avenue Transportation Company (later the Fifth Avenue Coach Company) began operating stages on Fifth Avenue between 11th Street and 59th Street on January 23, 1886. [10] The company was formed because the wealthy residents of Fifth Avenue did not want a street railway. [11] [12] The route was later extended south to Washington Square Park and north to 89th Street,[ citation needed ] and in 1900 the company was authorized to extend north to 135th Street, and to operate on other streets including 110th Street and Riverside Drive to 124th Street. [13] More extensions, on 32nd Street from Fifth Avenue west to Seventh Avenue (Penn Station) and north from 110th Street on Seventh Avenue and Manhattan Avenue/St. Nicholas Avenue to 155th Street, were soon authorized.[ citation needed ] After the company's horse cars were replaced with motor buses in July 1907, it began operating these extensions,[ citation needed ] and assigned them numbers in 1916 or 1917: [14] [15]
The Fifth Avenue Coach Company (FACCo) obtained a permit on July 1, 1925, and on July 9 began operating its 15 and 16 routes. [16] The 15 (now the Q32) began at Fifth Avenue and 25th Street at Madison Square Park, and traveled north on Fifth Avenue, east via 57th Street to the Queensboro Bridge, and along Queens Boulevard, Roosevelt Avenue, and 25th Street (now 82nd Street) to Northern Boulevard in Jackson Heights, Queens. The short 16 (Elmhurst Crosstown) was renamed Q89 on July 1, 1974, [17] [18] began at Roosevelt Avenue and 82nd Street and used Baxter Avenue and Broadway to reach Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst. [19]
Even before the Fifth Avenue company began operating its coaches, the New York and Harlem Railroad was operating its Fourth and Madison Avenues Line of horse cars, later trolleys, mainly on Fourth Avenue below and Madison Avenue above 42nd Street (Grand Central Terminal). The Madison Avenue Coach Company, a New York Railways subsidiary, [20] started operating replacement buses on February 1, 1935. Several changes were made to the route: instead of the Bowery, a shorter alignment via Centre Street and Lafayette Street was used, and a variant stayed on Madison Avenue south to 26th Street and short-turned at Astor Place. [21] As part of the New York City Omnibus Corporation system (NYCO; also a New York Railways subsidiary), these two routes were numbered 1 (via Park Avenue) and 2 (short-turn via Madison Avenue). [22]
On July 17, 1960, Lexington Avenue and Third Avenue became a one-way pair. The NYCO's 4, which had traveled along Lexington Avenue, 116th Street, and Lenox Avenue to northern Harlem, was discontinued. To cover this travel pattern, the 1 was extended west on 135th Street and north on Lenox Avenue, and the 2 was realigned to turn west on 116th Street and north on Lenox Avenue. [23] The path of the 1 and 2 south of Union Square was changed on November 10, 1963, to use Broadway rather than Fourth Avenue and Lafayette Street, due to Lafayette Street becoming one-way northbound and Broadway becoming one-way southbound. [24] On that same day, the southern terminus for FACCo's 2 and 3 was moved to 8th Street and Fourth Avenue, [25] after terminating the prior two months at 8th Street between Fifth Avenue and University Place following a ban on all bus traffic through their prior terminus of Washington Square imposed by the city on September 2, 1963. [26] As part of the new pattern, the 2 and 3 turned at Fourth Avenue onto Wanamaker Place and then onto Fifth Avenue.
Fifth and Madison Avenues became one-way streets on January 14, 1966, and the four FACCo routes on Fifth Avenue past Central Park and the two NYCO routes on Madison Avenue were combined into four routes on both avenues. In particular, the following changes were made: [27] [28]
The 1 and 4 routes (later the M1 and M4, respectively) were among the first routes to get limited-stop service, in 1973. [30] In 1976, eight double-decker buses were placed into service on the M4 and M5 routes as part of a two-year test. [31] The buses were 14.5 feet (4.4 m) tall, which required the relocation of several traffic lights and removal of tree limbs along the routes. [32] [33]
Limited-stop service on the M2 began between 110th Street and 8th Street on October 14, 1991, replacing local service between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. [34] In September 1995, limited-stop service was implemented on Saturdays between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. In January 2000, the MTA Board announced plans to implement limited-stop M2 service on Sundays between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. due to continued increases in weekend ridership. The change was to take effect in spring 2000, and was expected to reduce costs by $25,000 a year. [35] On May 21, 2000, this change took effect. On the same day, Sunday M3 service began starting 17 minutes earlier. [36]
In March 2000, plans were announced to reroute the M4 to run via the same route in both directions between West 159th Street and West 165th Street. Buses would run via Broadway, West 165th Street, and Fort Washington Avenue. At the time, northbound buses ran via Broadway and West 168th Street before turning north onto Fort Washington Avenue, while southbound buses ran via Fort Washington Avenue before turning south onto Broadway. The change would be made to eliminate the M4's asymmetric route and reroute it from a congested block of West 168th Street. [37] In May 2000, the MTA announced plans to revise the terminal loop for the M2 and M18 bus routes and relocate their terminal from West 167th Street between Audubon Avenue and St. Nicholas Avenue to the northern side of West 168th Street between Audubon Avenue and St. Nicholas Avenue. The M2 made a circuitous route to reach the 168th Street subway station, including a u-turn from northbound St. Nicholas Avenue to southbound Broadway, and the M18 misses the subway station. The M18 bus route missed the terminal loop of the M2 would be revised to run along Audubon Avenue, West 168th Street, and Broadway instead of Audubon Avenue, West 167th Street, St. Nicholas Avenue, West 168th Street, and Broadway. The M18 bus terminal loop would be revised from consisting of Audubon Avenue, West 167th Street, and St. Nicholas Avenue to consisting of Audubon Avenue, West 168th Street, Broadway, West 166th Street, and St. Nicholas Avenue. The revised changes would eliminate the u-turn and, by having southbound M18 buses share a stop with the M2 and M3 at Broadway and West 168th Street, could potentially equalize boarding on those routes. The change was expected to be implemented in mid-2000. [38] On July 2, 2000, the changes in M2, M4, and M18 bus service took effect. [36]
Plans were announced in April 2002 to reroute northbound evening and late night M2 service off of Wanamaker Place, University Place, and East 14th Street and onto Fourth Avenue, which was the route used by M2 during the rest of the day. The change was made so M2 service would not be split between two corridors overnight, to simplify M2 service, reduce travel times by three to five minutes, and consolidate late night M1 and M2 service. [39] The service change took effect on June 30, 2002. [40]
On June 25, 2010, as a result of service cuts, MTA no longer operated weekend M1 service into Midtown, instead terminating at 106th Street. After numerous requests to rescind some of the 2010 service cuts, the MTA restored the M1 to 8th Street on the weekends on January 6, 2013. [41] There was a proposal underway to re-extend this line back down to Worth Street in early 2017. In this proposal, every other bus would go to Worth Street via Bowery and Third Avenue, returning uptown via Centre Street and Lafayette Street. [42] The M1 was extended back down to Grand Street on September 3, 2017, though downtown buses run on Broadway. Service will eventually be re-extended to Worth Street, after which the downtown buses running below 8th Street will be rerouted onto Bowery. [42]
In April 2018, it was proposed to permanently truncate the M4's southern terminal to 41st Street. This was due to a street-widening along 32nd Street that would cause delays for M4 buses from terminating there, since that portion of the route was shared with the Q32, which continues northward from Penn Station to Jackson Heights, Queens. The change would occur in summer 2018. [43] To allow M4 riders to access Penn Station, and vice versa, free transfers would be available between Q32 and M4 buses going in the same direction. [44] However, the plan was then changed to have the M4 continue down to 32nd Street, where it would terminate midway between 5th and Madison Avenues, two blocks from Penn Station. [45] This was likely done to minimize the impact of the route changes because of the 32nd Street widening, while still maintaining the same connectivity with other routes, like the M34 and M34A SBS at 34th Street.
On June 30, 2024, the M2 stop on Audubon Avenue at West 165th Street was discontinued and was redirected to Amsterdam Avenue, [46] and the M3 stop terminal was relocated to St. Nicholas Avenue at West 192nd Street. [47] The northbound M4 stop on East 32nd Street at Fifth Avenue was relocated to Madison Avenue at East 32nd Street. The stop on East 32nd Street at Fifth Avenue was changed to be a drop-off only stop. [48]
Broadway is a street and major thoroughfare in the U.S. state of New York. The street runs from State Street at Bowling Green in the south of Manhattan for 13 mi (20.9 km) through the borough, over the Broadway Bridge, and 2 mi (3.2 km) through the Bronx, exiting north from New York City to run an additional 18 mi (29.0 km) through the Westchester County municipalities of Yonkers, Hastings-On-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, Tarrytown, and Sleepy Hollow, after which the road continues, but is no longer called "Broadway". The latter portion of Broadway north of the George Washington Bridge/I-95 underpass comprises a portion of U.S. Route 9.
Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Street, passing through Midtown, the Upper East Side, East Harlem, and Harlem. It is named after and arises from Madison Square, which is itself named after James Madison, the fourth President of the United States.
125th Street, co-named Martin Luther King Jr., Boulevard is a two-way street that runs east–west in the New York City borough of Manhattan, from First Avenue on the east to Marginal Street, a service road for the Henry Hudson Parkway along the Hudson River in the west. It is often considered to be the "Main Street" of Harlem.
The Lenox Avenue Line is a line of the New York City Subway, part of the A Division, mostly built as part of the first subway line. Located in Manhattan, New York City, it consists of six stations between Central Park North–110th Street and Harlem–148th Street, all of which are situated within the neighborhood of Harlem in Upper Manhattan.
The 23rd Street Crosstown is a surface transit line on 23rd Street in Manhattan, New York City. It currently hosts the M23 SBS bus route of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)'s Regional Bus Operations. The M23 runs between Chelsea Piers, along the West Side Highway near 22nd Street, via 23rd Street, to Avenue C and 20th Street in Stuyvesant Town–Peter Cooper Village.
The 145th Street station is a station on the IRT Lenox Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 145th Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem, Manhattan, it is served by the 3 train at all times. Built for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), the 145th Street station contains two side platforms that can only fit six and a half train cars, unlike almost all other IRT stations, which are able to fit full-length ten-car trains.
The 135th Street station is a station on the IRT Lenox Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 135th Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem, it is served by the 2 and 3 trains at all times.
110th Street is a street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is commonly known as the boundary between Harlem and Central Park, along which it is known as Central Park North. In the west, between Central Park West/Frederick Douglass Boulevard and Riverside Drive, it is co-signed as Cathedral Parkway.
The Central Park North–110th Street station is a station on the IRT Lenox Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of 110th Street and Lenox Avenue at the southern edge of Harlem, Manhattan. It is served by the 2 and 3 trains at all times.
The B44 is a public transit line in Brooklyn, New York City, running mostly along Nostrand Avenue, as well as northbound on Rogers Avenue or New York Avenue and Bedford Avenue, between Sheepshead Bay and Williamsburg. Originally a streetcar line, it is now the B44 bus route, operated by the New York City Transit Authority.
The Third and Lexington Avenues Line, also known as the Third Avenue Line, is a public transit line in Manhattan, New York City, running from Lower Manhattan to Fort George in Washington Heights. Originally a streetcar line, it now consists of the M98, M101, M102, and M103 bus routes, operated by the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority under the New York City Transit brand. The M98 bus route operates on Third Avenue between East 65th Street and East 127th Street, although it previously continued to 32nd Street. The M101, M102 and M103 bus routes run southbound on Lexington Avenue north of East 24th Street.
The Eighth Avenue Line is a public transit line in Manhattan, New York City, running mostly along Eighth Avenue from Lower Manhattan to Harlem. Originally a streetcar line, it is now the M10 bus route and the M20 bus route, operated by the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority. The M10 bus now only runs north of 57th Street, and the M20 runs south of 66th Street. The whole line was a single route, the M10, until 2000 when the M20 was created.
The Ninth and Tenth Avenues Line or Ninth Avenue Line is a surface transit line in the New York City borough of Manhattan, running mostly along Ninth Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue from Lower Manhattan to Manhattanville. Originally a streetcar line operated by the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority, it is now the M11 bus route operated by the New York City Transit Authority under the MaBSTOA subsidiary.
The M5 and M55 bus routes constitute a public transit corridor in Manhattan, New York City, running along the Fifth / Sixth Avenues / Riverside Drive Line as well as the southern portion of the Broadway Line after the discontinuation of the M6. The routes primarily run along Broadway, Fifth and Sixth Avenues, and Riverside Drive from South Ferry, Lower Manhattan to Washington Heights. The M5 covers the northern portion of the route north of 31st Street, while the M55 operates along the southern portion of the route south of 44th Street. The two routes overlap in Midtown Manhattan. The portion along Broadway south of East 8th Street was originally a streetcar line.
The M7 is a public transit line in Manhattan, New York City, running mostly along Columbus Avenue, 116th Street, and Lenox Avenue from Lower Manhattan to Harlem. The route was originally the Columbus Avenue Line streetcar, and is now a bus route operated by the New York City Transit Authority.
Madison Avenue Line refers to the following:
Duke Ellington Circle is a traffic circle located at the northeast corner of Central Park at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 110th Street in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. The traffic circle is named for the jazz musician Duke Ellington.
Since 1963, New York City has been using a system of bus lanes that are intended to give priority to buses, which contain more occupants than passenger and commercial vehicles. Most of these lanes are restricted to buses only at certain days and times, but some bus lanes are restricted 24/7. As of May 2021, there are 138.4 miles (222.7 km) of bus lanes within New York City.
The SIM1, SIM1C, SIM7,SIM10, and SIM11 bus routes constitute a public transit line in Staten Island and Manhattan, New York. The routes all operate on Richmond Avenue and Hylan Boulevard on Staten Island, but go to three separate terminals in Manhattan.