Draft:Francis Lewis Boulevard buses

q76, q77
Overview
System	MTA Regional Bus Operations
Operator	New York City Transit Authority
Garage	Jamaica Depot (Q77) Casey Stengel Bus Depot (Q76)
Vehicle	OBI Orion VII NG HEV (Q76) New Flyer XD60 (Q76) New Flyer XD40 Nova Bus LFS (Q77)
Route
Locale	Queens, New York, U.S.
Communities served	Both: Jamaica, Jamaica Estates, Hollis Q76: Fresh Meadows, Bayside, Aurburndale, Flushing, Whitestone, College Point Q77: St. Albans, Queens Village, Cambria Heights, Laurelton, Springfield Gardens
Landmarks served	Cunningham Park (Q76) Montefiore Cemetery (Q77)
Start	Jamaica, Queens- 165th Street Bus Terminal, Bays 3 and 4
Via	Francis Lewis Boulevard
End	Q76: College Point, Queens - 20th Avenue & 132nd Street Q77: Springfield Gardens, Queens - South Conduit Avenue & 221st Street
Length	Q76: 10.4 mi (16.7 km) Q77: 6.7 mi (10.8 km)
Service
Operates	5:00 a.m to 11:00 p.m
Annual patronage	Q76: 1,148,060 (2023) Q77: 1,120,637 (2023)
Transfers	Yes
Route map {{{map}}} ← Q72  {{{system_nav}}}  Q83 →

The Q76 and Q77 bus routes constitute a public transit corridor that run primarily along Francis Lewis Boulevard. The corridor extends throughout the entirety of Francis Lewis Boulevard with a combined distance of 7.2 miles (11.6 km) between Jamaica and their respective neighborhoods in College Point and Springfield Gardens.

A line for Francis Lewis Boulevard was originally proposed in August 1959, a change that would significantly help businesses and residents living among the neighborhood, but was rejected due to the corridor not "having a justifiable demand" for a route to exist. The Beechdale group remained committed to starting a new bus line until the Q76 began service in October 1961, while the Q77 began service in September 1965.

Route description and service

Q76

The Q76 begins at Bay 3 of the Jamaica 165th Street Bus Terminal. It runs north along 165th Street to Hillside Avenue, then proceeds east until Francis Lewis Boulevard, where it turns north. Running the entirety of the northern portion through the neighborhoods of Fresh Meadows, Bayside, Auburndale and East Flushing. At Cross Island Parkway, the route turns west onto its service road, later interchanging with 14th Avenue and then turns west on Parsons Boulevard in Whitestone. Buses then turn west onto 20th Avenue, serving a large shopping center (shared with the Q20A), buses then turn north on 131st Street, east on 15th Avenue and south on 132nd Street to the terminal.

Q77

The Q77 begins at Bay 4 of the Jamaica 165th Street Terminal. It runs north on 165th Street to Hillside Avenue, then proceeds east until Francis Lewis Boulevard, turning south. Buses then proceed southbound through the neighborhoods of Hollis, Queens Village and St. Albans. At Springfield Boulevard, the route merges onto Springfield, proceeding through Cambria Heights and Laurelton, intercepting with the Long Island Rail Road's West Hempstead and Babylon mainlines. The route finally crosses the Belt Parkway, terminating at South Conduit Avenue. Buses heading for Jamaica head east along South Conduit Avenue, north along 225th Street and west along North Conduit Avenue to access Springfield Boulevard once again.

The Q76 and Q77 do not operate overnight.

Other bus service

In addition to the Q76 and Q77, there are also a few routes that operate on Francis Lewis Boulevard:

• A branch of the Q16 operates between 29th Avenue and Willets Point Boulevard operating to Flushing- Main Street or Fort Totten.
• The Q28 also runs along Francis Lewis Boulevard between 32nd Avenue and 35th Avenue operating between Flushing and the Bay Terrace Shopping Center.
• The Q31 ends its service to Bayside by proceeding north along Francis Lewis Boulevard to 27th Avenue and begins its service to Jamaica at 27th Avenue.

History

1950s–1970s

On August 3, 1959, the NYCTA rejected the Beechdale group's proposal to run a north to south line along Francis Lewis Boulevard between College Point and Queens Village, the reasoning behind this rejection was due to the fact that despite having an already established business corridor, there was still "not enough justifiable demand" for a bus route to be created.

Service on the Q76 began on October 29, 1961, by the New York City Transit Authority as a six-month trial. Its original northern terminus was Parsons Boulevard and 14th Avenue in Whitestone and the Jamaica 179th Street Station in Jamaica. The route originally would run from the Cross Island Parkway Service Road to Francis Lewis Boulevard, then would run west along Horace Harding Expressway to 188th Street, continuing southbound until turning west on Hillside Avenue terminating at 179th Street Station. Service ran on 20-minute headways between 5:30 a.m and 12:30 a.m.

On December 27, 1961, the NYCTA announced that it planned to apply to the Board of Estimate for permission to switch the travel path of the route for the second half of the trial the following month. Service was rerouted from running via the Long Island Expressway service road and 188th Street to get to Jamaica to staying on Francis Lewis Boulevard to Hillside Avenue. The shift was done so that data for revenue for the new route could be compared with revenue for the existing route.

Service on the Q77 began on September 13, 1965, by the New York City Transit Authority as a four month trial in order to serve developing areas and schools like Andrew Jackson High School. However, on April 28, 1966, the Board of Estimate engaged in talks to have the Q77 established as a permanent route. Its original northern terminus was the Jamaica 179th Street Station and the intersection of Springfield Boulevard and Merrick Boulevard in Laurelton.

On September 10, 1973, in order to serve various magnet high schools in the area of Springfield Gardens, the route was extended 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from its previous terminus at Merrick Boulevard to Springfield Boulevard and 145th Avenue.

1980s–2000s changes

On September 11, 1989, both the Q76 and Q77's Jamaica terminals were moved from Jamaica 179th Street Station to the 165th Street Bus Terminal, later that day, the NYCTA announced the span of weekday service would be increased by an additional hour for the Q77. The Q77 later began running on Saturdays on September 16, 1989.

Due to a budget crisis, overnight service on the Q76 was eliminated on September 10, 1995.

In June 2000, the MTA announced plans to extend the Q76 from 14th Avenue and Parsons Boulevard in Whitestone to 131st Street and 20th Avenue in College Point via 20th Avenue. Buses would no longer make a terminal loop consisting of Parsons Boulevard, 15th Avenue, 144th Place, and 14th Avenue. Instead, buses would continue south along Parsons Boulevard, and west on 20th Avenue to the terminal at 131st Street. Southbound buses would turn north onto 131st Street, east on 15th Avenue, south on 132nd Street, east on 20th Avenue, north on Parsons Boulevard, and east on 14th Avenue. The extension was intended to improve reliability and provide access to the growing commercial district along 20th Avenue from northeastern and southeastern Queens. In addition, southbound service would be rerouted via Cross Island Parkway Service Road instead of 14th Avenue and Clintonville Street to match the less circuitous route used by northbound service. The extension was estimated to cost about $300,000 a year, while the rerouting was expected to save about $10,000 a year. This change was in effect on September 11, 2000.

2010s-present

On June 27, 2010, Saturday service on the Q76 was eliminated due to yet another budget crisis, this would remain discontinued until September 8, 2012, where service on Sunday also began running. Sunday service was later added for the Q77 on April 6, 2014.

On January 5, 2020, the Q77's southern terminal was moved from Springfield Boulevard and 145th Road to Springfield Boulevard and 145th Avenue. Southbound buses run via South Conduit Avenue, 225th Street and 145th Avenue to Springfield Boulevard. On January 3, 2021, the route's southern terminal was moved from Springfield Boulevard and 145th Avenue to South Conduit Avenue and 221st Street. The stop at Springfield Boulevard at 225th Street was eliminated. The route's terminal loop was modified to be South Conduit Avenue, 225th Street, and North Conduit Avenue.

Bus redesign

In December 2019, the MTA released a draft redesign of the Queens bus network. As part of the redesign, the Q76 and Q77's sections along Francis Lewis Boulevard would have been replaced by a 9.4-mile-long (15.1 km) QT73 running between Cambria Heights and Flushing Main St Station. The QT73 would have ran on 120th Avenue towards Francis Lewis Boulevard until turning onto Northern Boulevard terminating at Union Street in Flushing. The redesign was delayed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic in New York City in 2020 and later dropped due to negative feedback.

In March 2022, a revised plan was released. Under the new plan, the Q76 would retain mostly its original route except it would be rerouted off Cross Island Parkway and used Willet's Point Boulevard and 20th Avenue to access College Point. The Q77 would have became a "zone" route with non-stop sections along Hillside Avenue, and would have been truncated to Springfield Boulevard & 135th Avenue.

A final bus-redesign plan was released in December 2023. Under the final plan, the Q76 would still be rerouted off Cross Island Parkway and instead would use 20th Avenue to access College Point, several stops would be removed in order to balance stop-spacing. The Q77 would become a "rush" route with limited-stop section along Hillside Avenue. Its southbound terminal would also be extended to Farmers Boulevard and Rockaway Boulevard.