Q55 (New York City bus)

For additional information on the current bus service, see List of bus routes in Queens. For the commuter rail line in Greater Toronto, see Richmond Hill line.

The Richmond Hill Line is a surface transit line on Myrtle Avenue in Queens, New York City. Once a streetcar line owned by the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation, it was replaced on April 26, 1950 by the B55 bus route.^[3][4][5] The trolley tracks were not removed until April 1955, when Myrtle Avenue was being repaved.^[6] On December 11, 1988, the bus was relabeled as the Q55 Myrtle Avenue (East) bus route (as opposed to the B54 route on the western portion of Myrtle Avenue), operated by the New York City Transit Authority.^[7]

q55
Richmond Hill Line Myrtle Avenue (East) line
A 2022 XD40 (7866) on the Ridgewood-bound Q55 in Glendale, Queens, at Woodhaven Boulevard and Myrtle Avenue in May 2023
Overview
System	MTA Regional Bus Operations
Operator	New York City Transit Authority
Garage	Fresh Pond Depot
Vehicle	Orion VII NG HEV New Flyer Xcelsior XD40
Ended service	April 26, 1950 (Trolley)
Route
Locale	Queens, New York, U.S.
Communities served	Ridgewood, Glendale, Richmond Hill
Start	Ridgewood Intermodal Terminal
Via	Myrtle Avenue
End	Richmond Hill, Queens – Myrtle Avenue and Jamaica Avenue
Length	4.2 miles (6.8 km)
Other routes	B54 (Myrtle Avenue West)
Service
Operates	24 hours[1]
Annual patronage	1,619,429 (2023)[2]
Transfers	Yes
Timetable	Q55
Route map Richmond Hill – Myrtle Avenue & Hillside Avenue  Q55  117th Street / Jamaica Avenue 115th Street 114th Street 111th Street / 85th Avenue Park Lane South / 108th Street Freedom Drive Woodhaven Boulevard E Woodhaven Boulevard W 88th Lane 82nd Avenue / Jackie Robinson Parkway 88th Street Intermittent stops 81st Avenue 85th Street 83rd Street 81st Street 79th Place 79th Street 76th Street 74th Street / 73rd Place 73rd Street 72nd Street 71st Place 70th Street / Cooper Avenue Intermittent stops 69th Street 68th Street 67th Place 67th Street 66th Place 66th Street / 65th Place Cypress Hills Street 64th Street 62nd Place Fresh Pond Road 60th Lane / Summerfield Street 60th Street Forest Avenue Centre Street / Onderdonk Avenue Seneca Avenue Cornelia Street Cypress Avenue / Putnam Avenue St. Nicholas Avenue / Madison Street Ridgewood Terminal – Palmetto Street ​  Q55  Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues / Gates Avenue ​ Legend Two-way stop One-way stop  Q55  Terminal ​ Subway connection ← Q54  {{{system_nav}}}  Q56 →

Current route

The current Q55 route is identical to the route it used when it opened in 1950.^[3] The Q55 begins at the Ridgewood Intermodal Terminal at the Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues Subway station on the Brooklyn-Queens border. It then runs via Myrtle Avenue, cutting through Forest Park, and continuing to Jamaica Avenue and Myrtle Avenue in Richmond Hill, a few blocks west of the 121st Street subway station.^[1] Some eastbound buses may terminate at Woodhaven Boulevard.

In December 2019, the MTA released a draft redesign of the Queens bus network.^[8][9] As part of the redesign, the Q55 would have been replaced by a "neighborhood" route called the QT55, which would have been extended to Jamaica using Jamaica Avenue.^[10] The redesign was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City in 2020,^[11] and the original draft plan was dropped due to negative feedback.^[12] A revised plan was released in March 2022.^[13] The planned changes to the Q55 were similar to those proposed in the 2019 plan.^[14] A final bus-redesign plan was released in December 2023.^[15][16] The Q55 was to be extended slightly eastward to 121st Street station.^[17]

References

1. MTA Regional Bus Operations. "Q55 bus schedule" (PDF).
2. "Subway and bus ridership for 2023". mta.info. April 29, 2024. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
3. "New Bus Line In Queens: Trolley Coaches to be Restored to a Brooklyn Street" (PDF). New York Times. April 23, 1950. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
4. Seyfried, Vincent F. (1950). "Full text of "New York and Queens County Railway and the Steinway Lines, 1867-1939."". archive.org. Vincent F. Seyfried. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
5. "Brooklyn Trolley Depots". New York Division Bulletin. 51 (6). Electric Railroaders' Association: 7. August 2008. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
6. "Repaving for Myrtle Avenue" (PDF). New York Times. March 27, 1955. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
7. Archer Avenue Changes
8. Acevedo, Angélica (December 17, 2019). "MTA gives 'sneak peek' of transformative Queens bus network redesign plan". QNS.com. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
9. "MTA Unveils Draft Proposal to Redesign Bus Network in Queens". Spectrum News NY1 | New York City. December 31, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
10. "Draft Plan, Queens Bus Network Redesign". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. December 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
11. "Queens bus network redesign remains on hold amid COVID-19 pandemic: MTA". QNS.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
12. Duggan, Kevin (December 15, 2021). "MTA to release 'totally redone' Queens bus network redesign draft in early 2022". amNewYork. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
13. Duggan, Kevin (March 29, 2022). "FIRST ON amNY: MTA reveals new Queens bus redesign draft plan". amNewYork. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
14. "Draft Plan, Queens Bus Network Redesign". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
15. Brachfeld, Ben (December 12, 2023). "MTA unveils final proposal for Queens bus network redesign". amNewYork. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
16. Shkurhan, Iryna (December 13, 2023). "MTA unveils final plan to overhaul Queens bus network for the first time in decades". QNS.com. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
17. "Final Plan, Queens Bus Network Redesign". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. December 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2020.

External links

Template:Attached KML/B54 (New York City bus)

KML is not from Wikidata

• Richmond Hill Trolley Line on Myrtle Avenue (Richmond Hill Historical Society)
• About NYC Transit; Historic NYC Trolley Photos (MTA.com)