Broadway (New York City) - Public Transit

Public Transit

From south to north, Broadway at one point or another runs over or under the IRT Lexington Avenue Line, the BMT Broadway Line, the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line, and the IND Eighth Avenue Line:

• The IRT Lexington Avenue Line runs under Broadway from Bowling Green to Fulton Street (4 5 trains).
• The BMT Broadway Line runs under it from City Hall to Times Square – 42nd Street (N Q R trains).
• The IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line runs under and over Broadway from Times Square to 168th Street (1 2 3 trains), and from 218th Street to its terminal in the Bronx at Van Cortlandt Park – 242nd Street (1 train).
• The northern portion of the IND Eighth Avenue Line runs under Broadway from Dyckman Street to Inwood – 207th Street (A train).

Early street railways on Broadway included the Broadway and Seventh Avenue Railroad's Broadway and University Place Line (1864?) between Union Square (14th Street) and Times Square (42nd Street), the Ninth Avenue Railroad's Ninth and Amsterdam Avenues Line (1884) between 65th Street and 71st Street, the Forty-second Street, Manhattanville and St. Nicholas Avenue Railway's Broadway Branch Line (1885?) between Times Square and 125th Street, and the Kingsbridge Railway's Kingsbridge Line north of 169th Street. The Broadway Surface Railroad's Broadway Line, a cable car line, opened on lower Broadway (below Times Square) in 1893, and soon became the core of the Metropolitan Street Railway, with two cable branches: the Broadway and Lexington Avenue Line and Broadway and Columbus Avenue Line.

These streetcar lines were replaced with bus routes in the 1930s and 1940s. Before Broadway became one-way, the main bus routes along it were the New York City Omnibus Company's (NYCO) 6 (Broadway below Times Square), 7 (Broadway and Columbus Avenue), and 11 (Ninth and Amsterdam Avenues), and the Surface Transportation Corporation's M100 (Kingsbridge) and M104 (Broadway Branch). Additionally, the Fifth Avenue Coach Company's (FACCo) 4 and 5 used Broadway from 135th Street north to Washington Heights, and their 5 and 6 used Broadway between 57th Street and 72nd Street. With the implementation of one-way traffic, the northbound 6 and 7 were moved to Sixth Avenue.

As of 2011, Broadway is now served by the M4 (ex-FACCo 4), M5 (ex-FACCo 5), M7 (ex-NYCO 7), M100, and M104. Other routes that use part of Broadway include the M10, M20, M60, Bx7, Bx9, and Bx20.

Bee-Line buses also serves Broadway within Riverdale, The Bronx and Westchester. Route 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 13 and several other routes run on a portion of Broadway.