Union Turnpike express buses

The Union Turnpike express routes consist of eight bus routes: the QM1, QM5, QM6, QM7, QM8, QM31, QM35, and QM36. They begin at three different termini in Northeast Queens, each running via different corridors. During off-peak hours, the QM5 serves two of these stops, turning north from 73rd Avenue onto 188th Street, then making a U-turn using a roundabout at 64th Avenue. West of 188th Street, all eight routes share Union Turnpike, making pickups westbound or drop offs eastbound, until Main Street in Kew Gardens Hills near the Kew Gardens Interchange. Here, the routes begin non-stop express service along Queens Boulevard. Near Woodhaven Boulevard in Rego Park, all of the midtown routes' westbound buses turn onto the Long Island Expressway (LIE) and utilize the Queens–Midtown Tunnel to enter Manhattan, as do numerous other express routes from Queens. Except for the QM7 and QM8, eastbound buses travel from Manhattan via the Queensboro Bridge and Queens Boulevard. The QM7 and QM8 use the Midtown Tunnel in both directions, as they run via Lower Manhattan via the FDR Drive. The QM31, QM35, and QM36 make their first stop in Manhattan at Third Avenue and 38th Street, and proceed north on Third Avenue through East Midtown to 55th Street. Queens-bound buses begin service at 38th Street. The QM7 and QM8 do not serve Midtown Manhattan, instead traveling south down the FDR Drive to the Brooklyn Bridge exit. The routes turn south onto Pearl Street, making their first stop at Peck Slip; this is where Queens-bound buses begin pickups. They continue down Pearl Street, which becomes Water Street, to Whitehall Street in Battery Park at the Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal. They then turn north onto State Street, then onto Greenwich Street, which becomes Trinity Place and later Church Street, to Park Place near New York City Hall. The routes circumscribe City Hall via Broadway and Park Row, then proceed east along Frankfort Street back to Pearl Street. Frankfort Street and Pearl Street is the last drop off in Manhattan; Queens-bound buses proceed back onto the FDR towards Queens. This loop through Lower Manhattan is referred to and signed on buses as the "Downtown Loop". Queens-bound QM8 super express buses make a single pick up stop at Water Street and Gouveneur Lane near Wall Street, then turn directly onto the FDR towards Queens. Service times The QM1 and QM31 only operate during rush hours in the peak service direction: to Midtown mornings, and to Queens during PM hours. The QM7 and QM8 also operate only in the peak direction, with Downtown Manhattan-bound service ending at 9:20 AM, and Queens-bound service beginning at 2:15 PM. QM7s and QM8s alternate in frequency during rush hour periods, with only QM7s running at the end of the AM period and the beginning of PM service hours. Three QM8 Super Expresses operate during both AM and PM periods. The QM5 and QM6 are the only buses of the corridor to operate seven days a week, and operate in both directions during morning, midday, and evening hours between Midtown and Queens. The QM6 also ran during late nights but has since been discontinued in October 2020 due to low ridership. Their Third Avenue counterparts, the QM35 and QM36, however, only operate during rush hours in the peak direction. ==History==

In 1957, the New York City Board of Estimate received a proposal from Green Bus Lines for an express franchise between Fresh Meadows and 37th Street in Manhattan, running via the Long Island Expressway which was then under construction. The route would serve Kew Gardens Hills, Pomonok, Forest Hills, Rego Park, and Corona. This line was never created. What is now the QM1 began service under Steinway Transit Corporation in February 1968. On February 15, 1968, the Board of Estimate approved an express bus route between Fresh Meadows, Queens and Midtown Manhattan, at the request of Queens Borough President Mario J. Cariello. On February 26, 1968 the route began operating between 188th Street at the Fresh Meadows Houses and Midtown Manhattan, with buses split between Third and Sixth Avenues. The service was a 90-day trial run proposed by city traffic commissioner Henry A. Barnes, transportation administrator Arthur A. Palmer, and the New York Life Insurance Company which developed the Fresh Meadows Houses. The fare was 65 cents. On March 16, 1970, the Glen Oaks branch began service. On October 20, 1971, buses from both routes began using a new high-occupancy vehicle lane (HOV) created on the Long Island Expressway. By 1976, a branch along Union Turnpike to 260th Street was created. By 1983, the Union Turnpike branch became the North Shore Towers branch, and service to Downtown Manhattan was added. The Downtown branch, called the "Wall Street Express", terminated at 188th Street and Union Turnpike. Steinway Transit would merge with its sister company Queens Transit Corporation to become Queens-Steinway Transit Corporation in 1986, and Queens Surface Corporation in 1988. By 1990, the QM1 and QM1A designations were added, the QM1 referring to the original Fresh Meadows service as well as the Wall Street branch, and the QM1A signifying the Glen Oaks and North Shore Towers branches. By the early 2000s, the combined QM1/QM1A service was the busiest among privately operated express routes in the city. MTA takeover On February 27, 2005, the MTA Bus Company took over the operations of the Queens Surface routes, part of the city's takeover of all the remaining privately operated bus routes. At this time, eight different route combinations were operated under the QM1/QM1A designation. The QM1 operated between Fresh Meadows and Midtown or Downtown weekdays only, primarily during peak hours. The QM1A operated to/from Glen Oaks or North Shore Towers weekdays and weekends, with some weekday and all weekend Glen Oaks trips operating via Fresh Meadows to replace QM1 service. On January 4, 2016, midday service on the QM1 was discontinued, replaced by the QM5. In September 2016, the Third Avenue variants of the QM1, QM5, and QM6 were respectively renamed QM31, QM35 and QM36. This change was done in order to minimize passenger confusion, and to avoid the need to wait for the front sign to scroll to determine whether the bus was going via Third or Sixth Avenue. Overnight service on the QM6 briefly operated between May 6, and June 2, 2020, to supplement service due to an overnight subway shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. The QM6 made additional pick-ups and drop-offs along Queens Boulevard at daytime QM18 stops, in order to replace IND Queens Boulevard Line to/from Manhattan. A pick-up was also made at Woodhaven Boulevard & Hoffman Drive, with a corresponding drop-off made at Queens Boulevard & Woodhaven Boulevard. As part of the redesign, the Union Turnpike express routes would have been replaced by new express routes: the QMT105 (188th Street–Financial District), QMT115 (188th Street–Hudson Yards), QMT134 (Glen Oaks–Third Avenue), QMT135 (188th Street–Third Avenue), QMT165 (Glen Oaks–Sixth Avenue), QMT166 (188th Street–Sixth Avenue), and QMT167 (North Shore Towers–Sixth Avenue). The routes originating in Glen Oaks would have also been diverted to use the Long Island Expressway rather than Union Turnpike west of 188th Street. The redesign was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and the original draft plan was dropped due to negative feedback. A revised plan was released in March 2022. Under the new plan, the express routes would have largely kept their existing paths, but the QM5, QM8, and QM35 would have used the LIE instead of Union Turnpike. A final Queens bus-redesign plan was released in December 2023. All eight routes that used Union Turnpike would continue to run on that road, although there would be changes to stop spacing and frequencies. On December 17, 2024, addendums to the final plan were released. Among these, bus stops were rearranged on all routes except the QM6/QM36. On January 29, 2025, the current plan was approved by the MTA Board, and the Queens Bus Redesign went into effect in two different phases during Summer 2025. All routes were part of Phase I, which started on June 29, 2025, but the only express routes running that day were the QM5 and QM6 as the rest are weekday-only routes, which debuted new service on June 30. ==See also==