Buses replaced 163rd Street Crosstown Line streetcars on October 25, 1947, operating as the Bx34. In Fiscal Year 1963, this route was extended to directly serve industrial areas. On February 14, 1965, the route was extended on mile from 155th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue to Riverside Drive and 157th Street via 155 Street, Broadway, and 157th Street. The original southern terminus was at Halleck Street-East Bay Avenue. Service was partially extended to East Bay Avenue-Hunts Point Avenue in November 1967, and then to its current terminus in July 1974. It replaced the Bx15A on the same year, which ran between Norwood and Baychester. On February 19, 1984, the entire Bronx bus system was revamped, with several routes renumbered, merged or eliminated. As part of the changes, the Bx34 was renumbered to the Bx6. The former Bx34A rush hour-only shuttle service, running only within the eastern and western areas of Hunts Point, became part of the Bx6 in February 1984. The western branch of Hunts Point was eliminated in 1990, and was not replaced by another service until the Barreto Pool Shuttle (current
Bx46) started serving the area in July 2008.
Select Bus Service On September 3, 2017, the Bx6 SBS service was split from the existing Bx6 local service. The Bx6 SBS initially operated a similar route to the local, but the eastbound SBS route followed the westbound local route instead of exiting the
Macombs Dam Bridge to
Jerome Avenue. The Bx6 SBS supplements the existing Bx6 local service, making stops at select high-ridership locations and all transfers points to Metro-North and subways. The Bx6 SBS is the third Bronx Bus line to have Select Bus Service and the first one since the Bx41 on June 30, 2013. It is also the MTA's 15th Select Bus Service line to date, and the first official SBS to run a full CNG Fleet (it was first used temporarily on the
Bx12 SBS). The Bx6 corridor is the first to use bus lanes in the median of the street at the E 161st Street/Sheridan-Sherman Avenues stops, as opposed to
curbside or offset bus lanes. The median bus lanes supposedly speeds up traffic by going around
double-parked cars. On July 1, 2018, the Bx6 SBS was converted to an articulated bus route. The Bx6 local followed with first appearances in December 2018, and was permanently converted a month later.
Bus redesign As part of the MTA's 2017 Fast Forward Plan to speed up mass transit service, a draft plan for a reorganization of Bronx bus routes was proposed in draft format in June 2019, with a final version published in October 2019. The plan included rerouting the Bx6 Select Bus Service along Bruckner Boulevard, Bronx River Avenue, and Story Avenue to a new east end at Turnbull and Pugsley Avenues, along the path of the
Bx5 route. However, the Bx6 Local would have increased service south of Hunts Point Avenue station to compensate for the loss of the Bx6-SBS in Hunts Point. This change was proposed to be implemented by mid-2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, the changes were halted for over a year. In February 2022, it was announced that the modifications would take place on June 26, 2022, however the Bx6-SBS rerouting to Soundview would be delayed until 2026, after
OMNY fully replaces
MetroCard. ==Incidents==