Q69 and Q100 buses

q69 q100
21st Street Buses
Long Island City – Queens Plaza Q69: 28th Street and Queens Plaza South / Queensboro Plaza station Q100: Jackson Avenue and Queens Plaza South / Queens Plaza station
Via	21st Street
End	Q69: Jackson Heights – 82nd Street and Astoria Boulevard Q100: Rikers Island, Bronx
Length	5.4 miles (8.7 km) (Q69) 5.7 miles (9.2 km) (Q100)
Service
Operates	24 hours (Q100)[1] All times except late nights (Q69)[2]
Annual patronage	Q69: 2,041,202 (2022)[3] Q100: 758,631 (2022)[3]
Transfers	Yes
Timetable	Q69 Q100
Route map Jackson Heights – 82nd Street  Q69  Intermittent stops 81st Street 79th Street 78th Street / Grand Central Parkway Intermittent stops 77th–78th Streets 75th–76th Streets 73rd–74th Streets 71st–72nd Streets Rikers Island  Q100  Rikers Island parking lot 19th Avenue 49th–Hazen Streets Intermittent stops 47th Street 45th Street 42nd Street Steinway Street Intermittent stops 36th–37th Streets 35th Street 31st Street ​ Intermittent stops 28th Street 26th–27th Streets 24th–Crescent Streets Q100 via 20th Avenue Q69 via Ditmars Boulevard 21st Street / Ditmars Boulevard Q69 local stops 22nd Drive 23rd Avenue 23rd Drive 24th Avenue Hoyt Avenue North 25th Road Astoria Boulevard 28th Avenue 30th Avenue Q69 local stops 30th Drive 31st Avenue 31st Road Broadway Q69 local stops 33rd Avenue 34th Avenue 35th Avenue 36th Avenue 37th Avenue 38th Avenue 40th Avenue 41st Avenue Queens Plaza North Queens Plaza South 43rd Avenue 44th Drive / 21st Street ​ 22nd Street 23rd Street ​ 24th Street 27th Street (Q100 only) ​​​ Hunter Street Long Island City – Queens Plaza  Q69   Q100  ​​ Legend Local & Limited stops Local stops  Q69  Terminal  LTD  Limited-stop service ​ Subway connection ←  Q88  {{{system_nav}}}  Q101  →

The Q69 and Q100 Limited

The Q69 and Q100 both begin on Queens Plaza in Long Island City, sharing a south–north corridor along 21st Street through Long Island City and Astoria. The Q69 provides local service along 21st Street between Queens Plaza and Ditmars Boulevard, while the Q100 provides limited-stop service along the street.^[2][1][5] Both routes operate out of the LaGuardia Depot in East Elmhurst.^[6][7]

Q69

The Q69 begins at 28th Street and Queens Plaza South, near the

Though the Q100 is the limited-stop service along the corridor, it runs much less frequently than the Q69. It operates on 10-15 minute headways during daytime hours, 30 minute headways during early mornings and evenings, and 1 hour headways during overnight hours.[1]

The Q100 is the only public transit option to Rikers Island. Otherwise, travel must be done by ferry, car, or privately operated shuttles between either foot of the bridge.^[12] Prior to MTA takeover, the then-Q101R operated non-stop between 21st Street–Queensbridge and the Queens Rikers Island parking lot.^{[13][14][15][16]} Although service on the route was expanded in February 2009 to better serve communities along the route,^[17] much of the ridership of the Q100 still consists of inmates' family members – who are predominantly women and children – as well as prison employees.^{[4][18][19][20]} The bus also transports some released inmates, particularly women.^[19]

History

Former Q19A

Before the MTA takeover, the Q69 was known as the Q19A.

In 1938, Triboro was asked by the Steinway Community Council to extend service along Ditmars Boulevard to East Elmhurst

During the late 1940s and early 1950s, there were often complaints of overcrowding and bad headways on the Q19A, such as from the Taminent Democratic Club of Long Island City. The overcrowding resulted in passengers waiting for several buses until an empty one arrived.[31]^[32]

The bus stop at the Ditmars Station served by the Q19A and Q33A was initially located in the middle of the block on 31st Street near the subway entrance and was considered more convenient for subway riders, as it was adjacent to the station stairs. In May 1949, Triboro Coach appealed to the police commissioner for permission to move the bus stop north to the corner of Ditmars Boulevard and 31st Street and two months later a permit was approved. In October 1949, the bus stop was shifted back to the station stairs following protests from commuters. This shift back to the stairs was made under a different, albeit temporary, permit but the first permit for the stop at the corner was not revoked, and so at the end of April 1950, Triboro decided to shift the bus stop back to the corner, this time due to several accidents with the pillars of the Astoria elevated line.^[33][34] As late as 1962, there were calls to reinstate the former setup.^[35]

The Q33A was later renumbered to the Q51. In December 1958, Triboro Coach petitioned the Board of Estimate to eliminate the Q51 and replace it with an extended Q19A service, thus merging the two routes into a single route around 1960.^{[36][37][38][39][40][41]}

Former Q101R

Prior to the creation of the Q101R, the

On June 29, 2016, a fire truck collided with a Q100 bus traveling northward on 21st Street at Ditmars Blvd. Two firefighters and all 12 passengers on the Q100 bus were injured and taken to the hospital.[60]^[61]

Ridership

In 2018, the latest year for which passenger numbers are available, the Q69 had 2,932,729 passengers while the Q100 Limited had 1,345,218 passengers.^[62]

References