Jamaica Bus Terminal and the surrounding area

[Joel Up Front]

I understand that area is extremely busy, with Jamaica Center and the LIRR station not too far, but where did buses that now stop at Jamaica Center stop before it was even built? I have here a picture of a Bee-Line bus at 165th Street Terminal in 1959:

 

 

That was from a time when LI had nothing BUT private bus service (and I don't want that happening)... of course, only one route RUNS from Jamaica to Freeport, and that is today's N4. But that terminal was there DECADES before Jamaica Center was even planned!

 

As I asked before, where did buses terminate before Jamaica Center was built? Did they go to 165th or just stop at the next closest subway station?

 

And does anyone have any background info on the 165th Street Terminal?

[Shortline Bus]

I understand that area is extremely busy, with Jamaica Center and the LIRR station not too far, but where did buses that now stop at Jamaica Center stop before it was even built? I have here a picture of a Bee-Line bus at 165th Street Terminal in 1959:

 

 

That was from a time when LI had nothing BUT private bus service (and I don't want that happening)... of course, only one route RUNS from Jamaica to Freeport, and that is today's N4. But that terminal was there DECADES before Jamaica Center was even planned!

 

As I asked before, where did buses terminate before Jamaica Center was built? Did they go to 165th or just stop at the next closest subway station?

 

And does anyone have any background info on the 165th Street Terminal?

 

To make it simple and easy to answer I put it this way. Most of the SE Queens bus lines i.e the Q4, Q5, etc. and the N4 before Jamaica Center was bulit went to the 169th St/Hillside station. The rest of the SE Queens lines I think (correct guys if I am wrong)went to either the Parsons/Hillside station (Q110/111/Q112/113 stop)or the 179th St station.

 

 

 

FYI. Joel prior to the Archer stations being bulit, the ran to 168th/Merrick Blvd and Jamaica Ave. While the ran to 179th/Hillside making all stops at all times between 71st Ave/Forest Hills and 179th.

The ran as Hillside Express Weekdays until about 9pm between 71st Ave and 179th St.

[Queens Surface]

Before all the routes terminated at Jamaica Center, the last stops were around the 165th st. Bus Term. on Hillside Ave Between 166th St. & 168th St. IE: Q4,4A,Q5,Q5A now the Q85 i believe & Q42

[Shortline Bus]

Before all the routes terminated at Jamaica Center, the last stops were around the 165th st. Bus Term. on Hillside Ave Between 166th St. & 168th St. IE: Q4,4A,Q5,Q5A now the Q85 i believe & Q42

 

True. I believed those SE Queens/N4 routes served the 169th/Hillside station first before they looped around and terminated at the 165th St Bus Terminal.

[waynejay]

True. I believed those SE Queens/N4 routes served the 169th/Hillside station first before they looped around and terminated at the 165th St Bus Terminal.

 

Those routes that came into Jamaica north along Merrick Blvd terminated at 169th-Hillside. They did stop at 165th St-Terminal on southbound trips. They stopped at the bus bays now used by the Q6, Q8, Q9 and Q41. Since they weren't terminating the buses usually wouldn't pull fully into the bay to avoid having to do a reverse move.

[R44 CNG]

Before all the routes terminated at Jamaica Center, the last stops were around the 165th st. Bus Term. on Hillside Ave Between 166th St. & 168th St. IE: Q4,4A,Q5,Q5A now the Q85 i believe & Q42

 

To add the Q4A is the current Q84

[Joel Up Front]

I see what Wayne was saying - Look in the picture in my post; the doors are open and there are at least two people waiting to get on behind that guy paying the $0.15 fare (this was the late 1950s).

[Eric B]

That pic is from 1959? Looks like it hasn't changed a bit, except for the vehicles.

You can see a fishbowl in the background, and that is the year they first came out. Was that the same company that provided the LI service?

 

Also, it looks like in front of it, some bus with a front-mounted engine. (But painted in the same colors as the others; not a school bus. Though I'm not sure if that is simply the front blending in with the side of the fishbowl).

 

Wonder if the lower level of the terminal was being used then.

The semi-high rise building in the background to the tight looks more modern that that, so that's surprising.

[Q43LTD]

 

 

To make it simple and easy to answer I put it this way. Most of the SE Queens bus lines i.e the Q4, Q5, etc. and the N4 before Jamaica Center was bulit went to the 169th St/Hillside station. The rest of the SE Queens lines I think (correct guys if I am wrong)went to either the Parsons/Hillside station (Q110/111/Q112/113 stop)or the 179th St station.

 

 

 

FYI. Joel prior to the Archer stations being bulit, the ran to 168th/Merrick Blvd and Jamaica Ave. While the ran to 179th/Hillside making all stops at all times between 71st Ave/Forest Hills and 179th.

The ran as Hillside Express Weekdays until about 9pm between 71st Ave and 179th St.

The N4, Q4, 5 ,42, 84 and 85 terminated at 169 St and Hillside. The Q83 always ended at Hillside and 153 but took a different routing.

[Joel Up Front]

That pic is from 1959? Looks like it hasn't changed a bit, except for the vehicles.

You can see a fishbowl in the background, and that is the year they first came out. Was that the same company that provided the LI service?

 

Also, it looks like in front of it, some bus with a front-mounted engine. (But painted in the same colors as the others; not a school bus. Though I'm not sure if that is simply the front blending in with the side of the fishbowl).

 

Wonder if the lower level of the terminal was being used then.

The semi-high rise building in the background to the tight looks more modern that that, so that's surprising.

 

There's a LOWER LEVEL?

 

And Bee-Line (no relation to Westchester's Bee-Line) ran the N1, 2, 3, 4, and 6. I wonder why there's no N6 there, though. That was only one of 11 private bus operators on LI back then. Their merger in '73 formed LIB.

[aemoreira81]

There's a LOWER LEVEL?

 

And Bee-Line (no relation to Westchester's Bee-Line) ran the N1, 2, 3, 4, and 6. I wonder why there's no N6 there, though. That was only one of 11 private bus operators on LI back then. Their merger in '73 formed LIB.

 

Bee Line (no hyphen) also had an N5. It would later acquire Rockville Centre Bus/Utility Lines and Stage Coach Lines/Mid Island Transit.

 

The MTA is in the process of restoring a former Bee Line Old Look (#617); a former Mid Island Transit bus is preserved under private ownership.

 

To Eric B: It is possible that Schenck Transportation also provided services to the terminal, with the N22, N24, and N26.

 

The terminal though really is a vestige; to me, it lost its relevance once the 168th Street Station was closed in 1977 (and the line demolished to just before Sutphin Boulevard); I remember that part of the line (to Sutphin Boulevard over the Van Wyck) because it was a garish green color in its final days.

[Eric B]

There's a LOWER LEVEL?

Yeah; the stairway is right behind the donut shop, and it even has a window to the platform area.

 

It's used by the retail tenants now for storage. (Not sure if it was ever open to the public, but from where the stairway is, and the wall tiles, it does look like it was once public).

[traildriver]

I started riding into the Long Island Bus Terminal, its original name, back in the late 1950's on the Q17, which terminated there, along with several other TA routes.

There was no lower level for buses, at least that far back. The terminal was there several years before I started riding there,so I can't tell where the buses operated prior. Judging by the architecture, I would guess the terminal opened around late '40's to early '50's. Could have been around the time the Hillside Ave subway line opened, though.

 

One thing I do remember....there was another older and smaller terminal around Archer and Merrick that was utilized by the Green Line buses.

It was kind of ratty, in comparison, and I don't recall when it was closed...probably late 60's?