The Third and Amsterdam Avenues Line, also known as the Third Avenue Line, is a
public transit
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typic ...
line in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, running from
Lower Manhattan to
Fort George in
Washington Heights. Originally a
streetcar line
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
, it now consists of the M98, M101, M102, and M103
bus route
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
s, operated by the
New York City Transit Authority
The New York City Transit Authority (also known as NYCTA, the TA, or simply Transit, and branded as MTA New York City Transit) is a New York state public-benefit corporations, public-benefit corporation in the U.S. state of New York (state), New ...
. The M98
bus route
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
operates on
Third Avenue
Third Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan, as well as in the center portion of the Bronx. Its southern end is at Astor Place and St. Mark's Place. It transitions into Cooper Square ...
between East 65th Street and East 127th Street, although it previously continued to 32nd Street. The M101, M102 and M103 bus routes run southbound on
Lexington Avenue north of
East 24th Street.
Current bus service
M98
The M98 operates between
Hunter College at East 68th Street on the Upper East Side and
Fort Tryon Park
Fort Tryon Park is a public park located in the Hudson Heights and Inwood neighborhoods of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The park is situated on a ridge in Upper Manhattan, close to the Hudson River to the west. It extends most ...
in Inwood near West 192nd Street. The M98 operates northbound via Third Avenue, and southbound via Lexington Avenue. At East 120th Street, southbound service shifts from Park to Lexington Avenues, while at East 127th Street, the M98 northbound service shifts onto the
Harlem River Drive
The Harlem River Drive is a 4.20-mile (6.76 km) long north–south limited-access parkway in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs along the west bank of the Harlem River from the Triborough Bridge in East Harlem to 10th Avenue ...
. The M98 exits the Harlem River Drive via the Interstate 95/Amsterdam Avenue exit. The M98 travels westbound along West 179th Street and eastbound along West 178th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Fort Washington Avenue, where the M98 turns north on Fort Washington Avenue until its terminal at the entrance to Fort Tryon Park.
M101
The M101 spans between
Cooper Square
__NOTOC__
Cooper Square is a junction of streets in Lower Manhattan in New York City located at the confluence of the neighborhoods of Bowery to the south, NoHo to the west and southwest, Greenwich Village to the west and northwest, the East V ...
in the
East Village and West 193rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue in
Fort George. The M101 runs northbound along Third Avenue from Astor Place to East 125th Street, while southbound buses use Lexington Avenue north of East 24th Street. The M101 continues crosstown on 125th Street to Amsterdam Avenue, running north towards West 193rd Street after Amsterdam Avenue becomes Fort George Avenue. To begin the southbound trip, the M101 turns south onto
Saint Nicholas Avenue, then left (east) onto West 190th Street, followed by a right (south) back onto Amsterdam Avenue.
The M101 runs as a limited-stop service during the day south of East 116th Street, with no other local service. Local service is provided by the M102 and M103 buses, during that time. Overnight and weekend morning service runs local.
M102
The M102 begins at Cooper Square and follows the M101 until
East 116th Street in
East Harlem. The route travels west across 116th Street to
Lenox Avenue
Lenox Avenue – also named Malcolm X Boulevard; both names are officially recognized – is the primary north–south route through Harlem in the upper portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan. This two-way street runs from F ...
, where it continues north to the
Harlem–148th Street subway station.
M103
The M103 begins its route at
City Hall and travels north via Park Row and the Bowery. At Astor Place, it continues north alongside the M101 and M102 along Third to East 125th Street, where it terminates. Southbound service uses Lexington Avenue from East 125th to 24th Streets, then uses Third Avenue, Bowery, and Park Row.
History
Streetcar service
The
Third Avenue Railroad
The Third Avenue Railway System (TARS), founded 1852, was a streetcar system serving the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx along with lower Westchester County. For a brief period of time, TARS also operated the Steinway Lines i ...
opened a line in 1853, from
Astor House
The Astor House was a luxury hotel in New York City. Located on the corner of Broadway and Vesey Street in what is now the Civic Center and Tribeca neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan, it opened in 1836 and soon became the best-known hotel in Ame ...
at
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
and
Park Row to
86th Street, running north along
Park Row,
Bowery
The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. ...
, where it shared tracks with the
Second Avenue Line, and Third Avenue. In 1859, an extension to
East Harlem opened. Using the
125th Street Crosstown Line
The Bx15 and M125 bus routes constitute the Third Avenue/125th Street Line, a public transit line in New York City. The Bx15 runs between Fordham Plaza and the Hub in the Bronx, running primarily along Third Avenue. The M125 runs between the Hu ...
and tracks along Amsterdam Avenue, Third Avenue cars were also operated to Fort George. A
trolley park
Trolley may refer to:
Vehicles and components
* Tram, or trolley or streetcar, a rail vehicle that runs on tramway tracks
* Trolleybus, or trolley, an electric bus drawing power from overhead wires using trolley poles
** Trolleytruck, a trolleyb ...
called the
Fort George Amusement Park
Fort George Amusement Park was a trolley park and amusement park that operated in the Washington Heights and Inwood neighborhoods of Upper Manhattan, New York City, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It occupied an area between 190th an ...
operated at that end of the line from 1895 to 1914.
Bus service
New York Railways
The New York Railways Company operated street railways in Manhattan, New York City, United States between 1911 and 1925. The company went into receivership in 1919 and control was passed to the New York Railways Corporation in 1925 after which a ...
' Lexington Avenue Line streetcar was replaced by
New York City Omnibus Corporation
The New York City Omnibus Corporation (NYCO, later Fifth Avenue Coach Lines, Inc.) ran bus services in New York City between 1926 and 1962. It expanded in 1935/36 with new bus routes to replace the New York Railways Corporation streetcars when ...
(NYCO) bus (M21 - 3/4) on March 25, 1936. In 1936, the NYCO and Fifth Avenue were placed under common ownership. In 1941,
Surface Transportation Corporation The Surface Transportation Corporation was the bus-operating subsidiary of the Third Avenue Railway in New York City which operated under that name following the conversion of the streetcar lines in Manhattan and the Bronx to bus service between Mar ...
began operating former Third Avenue Railway routes. The Third Avenue Railway's Third Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue Line streetcar was replaced by the M101 bus operated by the
Surface Transportation Corporation The Surface Transportation Corporation was the bus-operating subsidiary of the Third Avenue Railway in New York City which operated under that name following the conversion of the streetcar lines in Manhattan and the Bronx to bus service between Mar ...
on May 18, 1947.
On July 17, 1960, Third Avenue north of 24th Street became one-way northbound, and southbound buses were moved to Lexington Avenue, and the two parallel bus lines were combined as a one-way pair, keeping the route number M101.
After a strike in 1962, the entire Fifth Avenue system was transferred to the newly formed
Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority
MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO) is the surface transit division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). It was created in 2008 to consolidate all bus operations in New York City operated by the MTA. , MTA Regional Bus Operations ru ...
on March 22, 1962.
Route M101A, formerly NYCO Fifth, Madison and Lenox Avenues route 2, was started on March 2, 1969.
["Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Authority: The First Ten Years." ''Motor Coach Age'', May 1972.] This route was renumbered the M102 on July 1, 1974.
Limited-stop service
New M98 Limited Stop service running between 32nd Street and Washington Heights was introduced on September 14, 1987, as a rush hour only service. A public hearing had been held on March 12, 1987 concerning the proposed introduction of the route. Service initially ran every 15 minutes between 6:30 and 9:30 a.m. southbound, and every 15 minutes northbound from 4 to 7 p.m.. with service every 30 minutes in the reverse-peak. Stops were added to the route in response to community requests at 187th Street, 125th Street, 116th Street and 107th Street. The route was designed to keep the number of stops to a minimum to attract ridership.
Limited-stop service on the M101 began on October 14, 1991, with alternate buses running limited between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
On September 10, 1995, the M103 was created to improve reliability along Third and Lexington Avenues, curtailing the M101 and M102 south of Astor Place.
In 2009, buses along the corridor were involved in a total of 268 accidents. The number is attributed to both inexperienced operators and the number of "obstacles" along the route.
On June 27, 2010, due to shortfalls in the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority's budget, the M98 was truncated from 32nd Street to 68th Street. At the same time, southbound M98 service into the George Washington Bus Terminal was discontinued. These two changes were estimated to annually save $800,000.
References
External links
*
{{Manhattan bus routes, state=expanded
03
1853 introductions
M098
098
Third Avenue
Lexington Avenue