Bx6 (New York City bus)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

bx6
bx6
155th/161st/163rd Streets/Hunts Point Avenue
Westbound Bx6 at River Avenue and 161st Street
Overview
SystemMTA Regional Bus Operations
OperatorNew York City Transit
GarageWest Farms Depot
VehicleNew Flyer Xcelsior XN60
Nova Bus LFS articulated (local)
Route
LocaleManhattan and The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Landmarks servedYankee Stadium, Bronx County Hall of Justice, Concourse Plaza, Hunts Point Cooperative Market
StartWashington Heights − Riverside Drive & 158th Street
155th Street & Amsterdam Avenue (Bx6 overnight)
Via155th Street, 161st Street, 163rd Street, Hunts Point Avenue, Food Center Drive
EndHunts Point – Hunts Point Cooperative Market
Length6.2 miles (10.0 km) (Bx6 SBS)
6.4 miles (10.3 km) (Bx6)
Service
Operates24 hours (Bx6)
All times except late nights (Bx6 SBS)
Ridership3,252,243 (2022)[1]
TransfersYes
TimetableBx6 Bx6-SBS
Route map

Riverside Drive  Bx6   Bx6 
Local stops
156th Street
157th Street / Morgan Place
"1" train
155th Street / Broadway
Amsterdam Avenue
"C" train
Edgecombe Avenue
Local stops
Macombs Dam Bridge
River Avenue
"4" train"B" train"D" train
Gerard Avenue
Sheridan Avenue
Sherman Avenue
Local stops  
Morris Avenue
Park Avenue
Melrose Avenue
Elton Avenue
Third Avenue
Local stops  
Trinity Avenue
Tinton Avenue
Prospect Avenue
Westchester Avenue
Intervale Avenue
"2" train"5" train
Simpson–Fox Streets
SouthernBruckner Boulevards
"6" train"6" express train
Seneca Avenue
Local stops
Gilbert Place
Lafayette Avenue
Coster Street
Faile Street
Spofford Avenue / Hunts Point Avenue
Bryant Avenue
Spofford Avenue / Halleck Street
Oak Point Avenue
Food Center Drive
Hunts Point Market  Bx6   Bx6 
355 Food Center Drive
Viele Avenue
Ryawa Avenue
Farragut Street
Legend
SBS & Local stops
Local stops
 Bx6 
SBS terminal
 Bx6 
Local terminal
"2" train
Connecting services
← Bx5  {{{system_nav}}}  Bx7 →

The Bx6 is a public transit line in New York City running along the 163rd Street Crosstown Line, within the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx.

In 1948, the streetcar route was converted into a bus route, operated by the New York City Transit Authority under the subsidiary Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority (MaBSTOA), and initially designated as the Bx34. During the late 20th century, the Bx34 and another bus route named the Bx15A would be both renumbered the Bx6. The bus line became the third bus rapid transit route to enter service in the Bronx in 2017, when the Bx6 Select Bus Service (SBS) was split from the Bx6 Local.

Route description

The Bx6 begins at Riverside Drive West and West 158th Street, and uses Riverside Drive to access Broadway and then West 155th Street, while buses heading to the terminus use West 157th Street and Riverside Drive West. Buses then continue on West 155th Street until it uses the Major Deegan Expressway service road and Jerome Avenue to access East 161st Street, while buses heading to Manhattan goes on West 155th Street from East 161st Street. It then continues on East 161st Street until it turns to Elton Avenue and then East 163rd Street, while buses heading to Manhattan use East 163rd Street and Washington Avenue to access Elton Avenue. It then continues on East 163rd Street until it turns to Rev J Polite, then East 163rd Street again, and goes on Hunts Point Avenue. It then continues on the avenue for a length until it turns to Spofford Avenue and then Halleck Street, and uses the latter street and Food Center Drive to access the terminus at Hunts Point Cooperative Market, while buses heading to Manhattan uses Food Center Drive to access Halleck Street.[2][3][4]

Both the Bx6 and Bx6 SBS operate out of the West Farms Depot.

Select Bus Service

An Bx6 SBS leaving River Avenue/161st Street stop

The Bx6 also employs Select Bus Service, the third in the Bronx and the 15th one in the whole city overall. It runs the same route as the Bx6 local, except that the eastbound SBS route follows the westbound local route instead of exiting the Macombs Dam Bridge to Jerome Avenue.

The Bx6 Select Bus Service is the first Select Bus Service route to use CNG buses. It also does not run late nights.

Select Bus Service stops

Station

Street traveled

Direction Connections
Manhattan
West 158th Street

Riverside Drive

Westbound terminus, Eastbound station NYC Bus: Bx6 Local
West 157th Street

Edward M. Morgan Place

Eastbound NYC Bus: M4, M5, Bx6 Local

NYC Subway: "1" train train at 157th Street

Edward M. Morgan Place

West 157th Street

Westbound
Amsterdam Avenue

West 155th Street

Bidirectional NYC Bus: Bx6 Local, M3, M100, M101

NYC Subway: "C" train train at 155th Street

Macombs Dam Bridge
The Bronx
River Avenue

East 161st Street

Bidirectional NYC Bus: Bx6 Local, Bx13

NYC Subway: "4" train"B" train"D" train trains at 161st Street–Yankee Stadium

Metro-North: Hudson Line at Yankees–East 153rd Street

(three blocks south on East 153rd Street)

Sherman Avenue / Sheridan Avenue

East 161st Street

NYC Bus: Bx1, Bx2 (all buses at Grand Concourse), Bx6 Local, Bx13 (Weekday Mornings Only)
Melrose Avenue

East 161st Street

NYC Bus: Bx6 Local, Bx13 (Weekday Mornings Only), Bx41Local, Bx41 SBS

Metro-North: Harlem Line at Melrose

(two blocks west on Park Avenue)

3rd Avenue

East 163rd Street

NYC Bus: Bx6 Local, Bx13 (Weekday Mornings Only), Bx15, Bx21
Prospect Avenue

East 163rd Street

NYC Bus: Bx6 Local, Bx17

NYC Subway: "2" train"5" train trains at Prospect Avenue (three blocks south on Westchester Avenue)

Intervale Avenue

East 163rd Street

NYC Bus: Bx4, Bx4A (all buses at Westchester Avenue), Bx6 Local

NYC Subway: "2" train"5" train trains at Intervale Avenue (one block north on Westchester Avenue)

Southern Boulevard / Bruckner Boulevard

Hunts Point Avenue

NYC Bus: Bx5, Bx6 Local, Bx19

NYC Subway: "6" train"6" express train​ trains at Hunts Point Avenue

Garrison Avenue / Seneca Avenue

Hunts Point Avenue

NYC Bus: Bx6 Local
Coster Street

Hunts Point Avenue

Eastbound NYC Bus: Bx6 Local
Spofford Avenue

Hunts Point Avenue

Westbound
Spofford Avenue

Halleck Street

Bidirectional NYC Bus: Bx6 Local
Food Center Drive

Halleck Street

NYC Bus: Bx6 Local, Bx46
Eastbound only
Viele Avenue

Halleck Street

Eastbound NYC Bus: Bx6 Local, Bx46
Ryawa Avenue

Halleck Street

Eastbound NYC Bus: Bx6 Local, Bx46
Farragut Street

Food Center Drive

Eastbound NYC Bus: Bx6 Local, Bx46
Hunts Point Market

Food Center Drive

Eastbound NYC Bus: Bx6 Local, Bx46
Baldor

Food Center Drive

Eastbound NYC Bus: Bx6 Local, Bx46
Westbound only
Market Street

Food Center Drive

Eastbound Terminus; Westbound Station NYC Bus: Bx6 Local, Bx46

History

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.[5]

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.[6]

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.[7] As part of the changes, the Bx34 was renumbered to the Bx6.[8]

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.[9]

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 first SBS to run a full CNG Fleet. The Bx6 is also the MTA's 15th Select Bus Service line to date.[10]

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.[11]

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.[12][13] 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 2024, after OMNY fully replaces MetroCard.

References

  1. ^ "Facts and Figures". mta.info. August 28, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
  2. ^ MTA Regional Bus Operations. "Bx6 bus schedule".
  3. ^ MTA Regional Bus Operations. "Bx6 SBS bus schedule".
  4. ^ "Bronx Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  5. ^ "Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority Report For The Period March 21, 1962 to June 30, 1963" (PDF). Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority. 1963. pp. 1–2. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 17, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  6. ^ "Hike Service Of Manhattan, Bronx Buses". New York Daily News. February 14, 1965. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  7. ^ Reyes, Lennin (October 2, 2011). "Busses and Trains A Go-Go". Bronx Journal. Archived from the original on December 24, 2015. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  8. ^ *"Bronx Bus Service Changes Effective February 19, 1984". New York City Transit Authority. February 1984. Archived from the original on April 18, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  9. ^ "Newsletter 2 / Spring 2017 161st Street Design Proposal for Bx6 SBS" (PDF). nyc.gov. April 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  10. ^ "Bx6 Becomes MTA's 15th Select Bus Service Route". mta.info.
  11. ^ Martinez, Jose (October 5, 2017). "Bronx SBS ride is the first to travel through center of streets". NY1. Charter Communications. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  12. ^ Spivack, Caroline (October 22, 2019). "MTA's Bronx bus redesign will chop 400 stops and add new routes". Curbed NY. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  13. ^ "MTA releases final Bronx bus system overhaul proposal". ABC7 New York. October 22, 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2019.

External links