Q46 (New York City bus)

The North Shore Bus Company began operating a bus route along Union Turnpike on December 4, 1939.[3] Prior to World War II, the route was originally the Union Turnpike branch of the Q44, running between Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens and 188th Street.[5] By 1942, the route was extended to Hollis Court Boulevard at the east end of Cunningham Park.[5] It was later renamed the Q44A.[6] North Shore Bus became bankrupt, and as a result this route, along with the company's 26 other routes were taken over by the New York City Board of Transportation in March 1947.[7][8][9]

On August 12, 1947, the United Civic Council advocated for the extension of the Q44A, then under city control, from Hollis Court Boulevard to Springfield Boulevard. At the time, the extension had preliminary approval from some of the members of the Board of Transportation.[10] This extension took place on September 7, but only after pressure from civic organizations.[11][12] On November 30, 1947, under city control, the Q44A was extended from Springfield Boulevard to Glen Oaks Village at Union Turnpike and 251st Street to serve new apartments there.[13][14] In January 1948 the route was extended to 257th Street.[15][16]^: 51

On January 13, 1950, a spur of the Q44A was approved to turn off at 260th Street and operate via 260th Street to Little Neck Parkway.[17] Service began on February 5, 1950.[18] Previously, all Q44A buses continued along Union Turnpike to the Nassau County line at Lakeville Road. This spur provided direct service to Glen Oaks Village, sparing its residents a half-mile walk. This extension had been requested on December 16, 1949, and the public hearing was held on January 12, 1950.[19]

In December 1950, the North Cunningham Civic Association advocated for the implementation of zone express service along the route in the peak direction during rush hours. The group suggested having some buses run local to Utopia Parkway, some only making stops between Utopia Parkway and Hollis Court Boulevard, some only making stops between Hollis Court Boulevard and Commonwealth Boulevard, with the final variant only making stops east of the Cross Island Parkway.[20][21] On June 28, 1954, express service on the Q44A began, with expresses leaving the City Line between 6:59 a.m. and 8:27 a.m. and leaving from the Kew Gardens subway station between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.. These buses ran in the peak direction and made transfer stops at Main Street and Utopia Parkway, and were expected to save 5 to 7 minutes.[22]

In 1974, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) began to study whether bus service could be sped up using computerized traffic signals. The Q44A was the chosen route as it serves as a subway feeder and as a connector to major hospitals. In the late 1950s, the route carried as many as 7.5 million passengers per year, but that figure decreased to 3.78 million by 1976. Union Turnpike received computerized traffic signals before other streets, but it did little to cut travel times for bus passengers. As part of the plan, it was decided that a zone express concept could be used on the Q44A without inconveniencing many passengers, while benefiting a majority of them.[23]^: 92–94

Limited-stop service began on April 18, 1977 with the intent of attracting new riders to the route.[24] Along with the M15, the two routes became the first to use limited service in the city.[25] Limited-stop service would be bidirectional during the AM rush hour, and peak-direction (heading east) during the PM rush hour. These limited-stop buses were labeled as expresses. Eastbound expresses only stopped at Court House (only east-bound), Main Street, 149th Street, and Springfield Boulevard before making all stops. After running local to Winchester Boulevard, westbound expresses only stopped at Cloverdale Boulevard (226th Street), Springfield Boulevard, 149th Street, Main Street, and the subway. Some buses on the Glen Oaks Branch used to continue up Little Neck Parkway, turning west on the Grand Central Parkway service road, and turning onto Commonwealth Road, going east on the Grand Central Parkway service road, before it terminated at Little Neck Parkway and 260th Street. Between 4:50 and 6:35 PM, local service only ran to Springfield Boulevard, and free transfers were issued to continue past Springfield Boulevard via express Q44As.[26] The express Q44As were also intended to compete with privately owned expresses buses operated by Queens Surface–travel times were 20 minutes shorter and the fare was $5 less.[27]

The Q44A expresses were able to take advantage of the timed traffic signals for the first time, cutting scheduled running time to 27 minutes from 33 minutes. The average terminal-to-terminal speed of the zone expresses was better than 18 miles per hour (29 km/h)–significantly higher than on any other bus route in the city. Seat availability increased by 40%, travel times were reduced by 24%, and passengers from the outer reaches of Eastern Queens could get to Midtown Manhattan in less than an hour. All of this was possible with no change in labor costs, no additional vehicles, and with a slight increase in fuel consumption.[23]^: 92–94 Q44A express service increased ridership on the route by 15%.[28]

A now-retired Nova Bus RTS-06 in Q46 service at Parsons Boulevard in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens

In April 1974, an extension of the Q44A to LIJ Hospital was approved, which made it the first city route to extend into Nassau County.[29][25] The extension was approved by Queens Borough President Donald Manes and Nassau County Executive Ralph Caso, and it was first proposed by the Lost Community Civic Association of Floral Park. The extension faced legal hurdles–the NYCTA did not authorize it to operate any franchised service outside city limits. However, in 1968, with the passage of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Act, the NYCTA became subordinate to the MTA, which could determine transit plans and policies for the NYCTA. The head of the MTA, William Ronan, searched for a legal mechanism to allow for the extension. The decided course of action included a request for the service by the Queens Borough President and approval by the Nassau County Executive, an approval or no objection by the New York City Comptroller and approval by the Mayor.[30]

When the Queens Village Depot was opened on September 8, 1974, the Q44A was reassigned from Flushing Depot (the former North Shore Bus Company facility).[31][32] Around this time, there was a third branch in Little Neck, separate from the Glen Oaks branch. This branch diverged north at Commonwealth Boulevard, running along Commonwealth and the Grand Central Parkway service road and terminating at Little Neck Parkway.[33] On March 4, 1979, after years of requests from local residents, the terminal loop of the Q44A was changed. Instead of operating via 270th Street between Union Turnpike and 77th Avenue, and along 77th Avenue from 270th Street to Hewlett Avenue, buses would run along Lakeville Road, 77th Avenue, and Hewlett Avenue, and back onto Lakeville Road.[34][35][36]

The Q44A was renumbered to the Q46 on April 12, 1990. The Q46 was extended from Lakeville Road to LIJ Hospital on September 7, 1997, saving a half-mile walk.[37][38][39] On November 17, 1997, limited-stop buses started to make an additional stop at 150th Street.[40]

During rush hours Q46 local buses, like the one pictured, terminate at Springfield Boulevard.

In July 2002, the MTA announced a plan to eliminate overnight and weekend service to Glen Oaks, and operate all Q46 service during these periods to LIJ Hospital. At the time, about one-third of weekend trips, and 40 percent of late night trips served the branch to Glen Oaks even though there was limited demand on that branch. The change was intended to provide more frequent service to the more heavily used branch to LIJ, reducing headways from 30 to 40 minutes to 15 to 20 minutes late nights, and from 10 to 20 minutes weekends to every 10 minutes. Riders using the Glen Oaks branch would have to walk an average of 1,500 feet (460 m) to the nearest Union Turnpike bus stop. While the Glen Oaks branch was mainly used for school and work trips during the peak hours, LIJ, being a major hospital complex, generated trips 24/7. On an average November 2001 weekday, between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m., there were 53 riders on the LIJ branch and only 7 on the Glen Oaks branch. Riders on the LIJ branch also outnumbered Glen Oaks branch riders 650 to 65 on Saturdays, and 400 to 45 on Sundays. The change was expected to cost $15,000 annually.[41]

This change took effect on September 8, 2002.[42][43]

The operation of reverse-peak limited-stop service in the morning rush hour was approved by the MTA Board in October 2005.[44] On February 2, 2008, the LIJ branch's terminal was moved to Lakeville Road outside the hospital gates due to construction within the hospital grounds, particularly a new women's hospital adjacent to the bus stop.[45][46][47] The Katz Women's Hospital was completed in December 2011,[48] and the Q46 began running to a new terminal within the hospital.[4]

The Northeast Queens Bus Study was released in 2015, and recommended, for the long term, the implementation of a pilot program for limited-zone bus service on one or more routes in Northeast Queens including the Q46. The study also recommended the implementation of Select Bus Service along Union Turnpike.[4] On October 20, 2017, the New York City Department of Transportation released the Bus Forward report, and suggested that Select Bus Service be implemented along Union Turnpike and 20 other corridors citywide.[49]

In December 2019, the MTA released a draft redesign of the Queens bus network.[50][51] As part of the redesign, the Q46 would have been replaced by a "subway connector" route called the QT32, which would run nonstop from Kew Gardens to 188th Street. Local service between these points would have been provided by a "neighborhood" route, the QT11, which would run from Fresh Meadows to East Elmhurst.[52] The redesign was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City in 2020,[53] and the original draft plan was dropped due to negative feedback.[54] A revised plan was released in March 2022.[55] Under the new plan, the branch to Queens County Farm Museum will be called the Q48, while the LIJ branch will retain the Q46 designation; both routes will have a nonstop section from Kew Gardens to 188th Street. The Q23 will be extended to Fresh Meadows to provide local service between these points.[56]