207th Street Crosstown Line

Bx12 / Bx12 Select Bus Service
Fordham Road−Pelham Parkway 207th Street Crosstown Line
A Bx12 SBS at Fordham Road and Southern Boulevard between the Bronx Zoo and New York Botanical Garden.
Overview
System	MTA Regional Bus Operations
Operator	Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority (MaBSTOA) New York City Transit Authority (NYCT)
Garage	Gun Hill Depot
Vehicle	Bx12: New Flyer D60 Galaxy New Flyer XD60 "Xcelsior" Nova Bus LFS articulated Bx12 SBS: Nova Bus LFS articulated
Livery	Bx12 SBS: Select Bus Service
Route
Locale	The Bronx; Manhattan
Start	Inwood, Manhattan – Broadway and Isham Street / 207th Street IND subway (full route) University Heights, Bronx – Sedgwick Avenue (daytime local terminus)
Via	207th Street (Manhattan), Fordham Road, Pelham Parkway
End	Pelham Bay Park, Bronx – Pelham Bay Park station (daytime local terminus) Orchard Beach, Bronx (summertime local terminus) Co-op City, Bronx Edson Avenue and Bartow Avenue (late night terminus)[note 1][1] Bay Plaza Shopping Center (full route)
Length	9 miles (14 km)[2]
Service
Operates	24 hours (Bx12 Local)[note 1][note 2][1][3]
Daily ridership	15,812,906 (2014)[4]
Fare	$2.75 (MetroCard or coins)
Cash	Coins only (exact change required)
Transfers	Yes
Timetable	Bx12 Bx12 SBS
Route map Legend Orchard Beach  Bx12  eastern terminus (summers only) Bay Plaza  Bx12 SBS  eastern terminus  Bx12  late night eastern terminus JC Penney/Applebee's Chase Bank/Co-op City Boulevard Bartow Mall Baychester Avenue opposite Staples early-morning service when Bay Plaza is closed  Bx12  SBS  eastern terminus (early AM) Edson Avenue – Gun Hill Depot Summer service to Orchard Beach Wilkinson Av−Pelham Bay Park Station  Bx12  eastern terminus (days) Stillwell Avenue Eastchester Road Seymour Avenue Throop Avenue Williamsbridge Road Bronxwood Avenue White Plains Road Southern Boulevard – Bronx Zoo Camberleng Avenue Hoffman Street Bathgate Avenue Belmont Av and 182nd St school days 2:31–2:48  Bx12  eastern short turn Third Avenue–Fordham Plaza Decatur Avenue Valentine Avenue Grand Concourse East 190th Street Walton Avenue Jerome Avenue University Avenue Sedgwick Avenue/Fordham Road Sedgwick/Webb Avenues  Bx12  western terminus (days) Cedar Avenue University Heights Bridge The Bronx Manhattan Tenth Avenue Broadway – Inwood  Bx12 SBS  western terminus  Bx12  late night western terminus ← Bx11  {{{system_nav}}}  Bx13 → (by borough) Bx41 SBS → (by route number) M15 SBS →

The 207th Street Crosstown Line, also called the Fordham Road−207th Street Crosstown Line^[5] or Fordham Road Crosstown Line,^[6] is a public transit line in New York City serving the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. The line runs along 207th Street in upper Manahttan, and along the continuous Fordham Road and Pelham Parkway in the Bronx. Originally a streetcar line between Inwood in Manhattan and Belmont in the Bronx from the early 1900s to 1948,^[5][7] the line is now the Bx12 bus route operated by the New York City Transit Authority under the subsidiary Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority (MaBSTOA). The bus line became the first bus rapid transit route to enter service in the city in 2008, when the Bx12 Limited became the Bx12 Select Bus Service (SBS). Both the Bx12 local and SBS carry over 45,000 riders each weekday. The total ridership in 2014 was 15,812,906, making the route the busiest citywide.^[4]

Route description and service

Current bus service

A Bx12 SBS bus (with special livery not yet applied yet) picks up customers at the Eastchester Road stop along Pelham Parkway.

The current form of the Bx12 runs crosstown from Inwood to various areas in the northeastern Bronx. The line, eastward, begins at the Inwood – 207th Street subway station (A train) on Broadway and West 207th Street. The Bx12 then loops around via Isham Street and Sherman Avenue and rejoins West 207th Street, continuing across the University Heights Bridge into University Heights. The route runs along Fordham Road through Fordham Center, Fordham Plaza, and Belmont until the road becomes Pelham Parkway near the Bronx Zoo and New York Botanical Garden in Bronx Park. The route then runs along Pelham Parkway's main roadway to Pelham Bay, where it takes a somewhat circuitous route. The line turns off Pelham Parkway onto Burr Avenue stopping at the Pelham Bay Park subway station. From here, the Bx12 services that do not terminate here make a u-turn and join the New England Thruway to Bay Plaza or veer east along Shore Road to Orchard Beach.^[1][3][8]

At the Pelham Bay Park station, Manhattan-bound buses use stops directly adjacent to where Bay Plaza and Orchard Beach-bound buses pick up passengers—along southbound Amendola Place—resulting in passengers sometimes boarding buses going in the wrong direction. Westbound buses use the southernmost two stops, while terminating eastbound locals and buses towards Bay Plaza and Orchard Beach use the northernmost two stops closest to the subway. The setup requires westbound service to make a U-turn onto the New England Thruway before heading onto Pelham Parkway.^[9][10]

During the daytime and evening hours, local service runs between Sedgwick/Webb Avenue in University Heights and the Pelham Bay Park subway station (6 <6> trains). Some local service also originates from Belmont Avenue and 182nd Street in Belmont during the afternoons on school days. Most service between Manhattan and Bay Plaza is served by Bx12 Select buses during that time, although some local buses continue to Bay Plaza. During the summer, Bx12 local buses are extended to Orchard Beach, with all weekend service operating to/from Inwood during the summer.^[1][3][8]

During the overnight hours, all service runs local, serving the entire route with the exception of Bay Plaza. Buses instead terminate on Edson Avenue, in front of the Gun Hill Bus Depot, as the shopping center is closed during these times.^[1][3]

Select Bus Service

The Bx12 is New York City's first bus rapid transit service, marketed as Select Bus Service, which began on June 29, 2008. Selected as the Bronx corridor for the pilot project in 2004, the MTA, New York City Department of Transportation and the New York State Department of Transportation drew up plans to convert the Bx12's limited service to BRT. The route was selected for the project mainly because of its mostly straight crosstown route through the Bronx, intersecting with seven different subway lines and all Metro-North lines.^{[2][3][11][12][13]}

Buses are outfitted with special identification (including a special blue wrap and blue route signs) and traffic signal prioritization was enacted along the route, timing traffic signals in favor of the bus. The DOT also added dedicated bus lanes painted in maroon-red along Pelham Parkway and Fordham Road, with signs indicating that the lanes are bus-only from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm on weekdays, along with additional police enforcement. Off-board fare collection, via MetroCard fare machines and coin meters, allows passengers with proof of payment to board through any door. Bx12 Select service operates daily, from around 6am to 10pm weekdays, 7am-11pm weekends.^{[2][3][11][12][13]}

Some previous Bx12 Limited stops are no longer served by Bx12 Select buses and are now served by local buses, most notably Jacobi Medical Center.

Stops

The Bx12 route (in light blue), as of Summer 2012

History

Streetcar service

The streetcar line was operated by the Union Railway Company, a subsidiary of the Third Avenue Railway.^[5][16] In February 1903, the company announced plans to construct a two-track line along Pelham Avenue (the former name of Fordham Road and Pelham Parkway) between Bronx Park and Pelham Bay Park, running through largely undeveloped land and parkland. Called the Pelham Avenue Line, its western terminus would be at Third Avenue in modern Fordham Plaza, at the Fordham station of the then-New York Central Railroad (now the Metro-North Railroad Harlem Line) and the entrance of what was then St. John's College (now Fordham University's Rose Hill campus). Its eastern end would be at the Pelham Bridge in Pelham Bay. This was the last Union Railway franchise to be constructed.^[17][18]

By 1904, the line was running along Fordham Avenue and Pelham Avenue (today's Fordham Road) between Sedgwick Avenue in University Heights and Third Avenue in Fordham.^[19] That year, the company released plans to extend the line west across the yet-to-be-constructed University Heights Bridge to Broadway and 207th Street in Inwood, Manhattan.^[19][20] By fall 1908, after the opening of the bridge, the Union Railway petitioned for an extension west to Manhattan, and east to Pelham Bay Park.^[21] By 1909, the planned eastern extension was truncated to Southern Boulevard, with both extension plans delayed due to deadlock in negotiations with the city.^[22] In 1910, the company once again petitioned the New York City Board of Estimate and Public Service Commission for a western extension to Manhattan, and for an eastern extension from Southern Boulevard to the eastern edge of Bronx Park (at about Boston Road, White Plains Road, and Bronx Park East).^[23][24] The Manhattan extension was finally granted in June 1910.^[25][26] Service across the bridge to Inwood began on November 29, 1910.^[25]

In late 1916, the railway petitioned for another extension along either Vermilyea Avenue or Nagle Avenue, and Dyckman Street west to the ferry terminal at the end of Dyckman Street, to connect with ferries to New Jersey and upstate New York, particularly the Palisades region and Palisades Interstate Park.^{[5][27][28][29]} The franchise was granted in December of that year.^[27][30] The extension was initially opposed due to many narrow streets in the area.^[27] Later, the Union Railway sought to annul the franchise agreement, which was opposed by the local Dyckman (Inwood/Washington Heights) community due to growing business interests created by the line.^[28][29] The extension was never implemented.^[31]

Conversion to bus service

A New Flyer D60 high-floor bus on the Bx12 SBS at Orchard Beach in 2008. High-floor buses are no longer present in SBS service, which no longer serves Orchard Beach.

Beginning in the 1920s, many streetcar lines in the Bronx, Manhattan, and the rest of the city began to be replaced by buses, particularly after the unification of city's three primary transit companies in June 1940.^[32][33][34] That year, the railroad company began relinquishing its trolley franchises with the city, to be replaced by buses operated by the subsidiary Surface Transportation Corporation.^[16][35] The 207th Street Crosstown Line was replaced with the then-Bx19 bus service operating between Broadway-207th Street and Southern Bouelvard on January 25, 1948, the same date as the motorization of the Bronx and Van Cortlandt Parks Crosstown Line (today's Bx9).^[31] The route would be operated by Surface Transit until 1956, and by the New York City Omnibus Corporation (later under the brand Fifth Avenue Coach Lines) until 1962. That year the New York City Transit Authority began operating the line under the subsidiary Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority (MaBSTOA), which continues to operate the route under the MTA.^[36]

As the years progressed, service was eventually consolidated from multiple routes, and was given a single label, the Bx12. The route saw extensions east to City Island, seasonal service to Orchard Beach, and a branch to the Bartow-Pell Mansion in the Pelham Bay Park Golf Course.^[37][38] along with the introduction of limited-stop service on weekdays. In the early 1980s the Bay Plaza Shopping Center was constructed in Co-op City and the Bx12 was extended there from Pelham Bay. Service to City Island remained until around 1990, when through service was discontinued and replaced with a dedicated route from City Island to Pelham Bay, the current Bx29. Service to the Bartow-Pell Mansion was discontinued due to low ridership and is now served by Bee-Line's 45 (or W45) bus.^[39] The resulting service pattern remains in effect today, with some minor adjustments.

In 2004, the MTA in conjunction with the New York City Department of Transportation and New York State Department of Transportation, performed an initial study on bus rapid transit, with 80 corridors studied citywide. Five routes were prioritized, including the Bx12 route.^{[2][40][41][42][43]} On June 29, 2008, the Bx12 Limited was converted into the Bx12 Select Bus Service.^{[2][11][12][13]} Initially, during summer months Bx12 SBSs alternated between Bay Plaza and Orchard Beach. In 2009, Bx12 locals were extended to Orchard Beach during summer months, with all SBSs terminating at Bay Plaza. Summer local service to Inwood was also added at this time.^[8] The total ridership in 2009 was 14,736,515, ranking the route third in ridership citywide and the busiest in the Bronx.^[44] In March 2013, the high-floor articulated buses on the SBS route were replaced with low-floor articulated buses with three sets of doors to improve boarding and alighting of passengers.^[45]

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bx12 (New York City bus).

• Bx12 Fordham Road SBS − mta.info
• Fordham Road/Pelham Parkway Select Bus Service − NYCDOT
• Bx12 Schedule
• Bx12 SBS Schedule
• Bx12 SBS Map

Select Bus Service
Current routes	B44 SBS B46 SBS Bx12 SBS Bx41 SBS M15 SBS M23 SBS M34 SBS M34A SBS M60 SBS M86 SBS Q44 SBS Q70 SBS S79 SBS
Future routes	Bx6 M79 Q25 Q52 Q53