Bx6 (New York City bus)

The Bx6 is a public transit line in New York City running along the 163rd Street Crosstown Line, within the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx.

In 1948, the streetcar route was converted into a bus route, operated by the New York City Transit Authority under the subsidiary Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority (MaBSTOA), and initially designated as the Bx34. During the late 20th century, the Bx34 and another bus route named the Bx15A would be both renumbered the Bx6. The bus line became the third bus rapid transit route to enter service in the Bronx in 2017, when the Bx6 Select Bus Service (SBS) was split from the Bx6 Local.

Route description


The Bx6 begins at Riverside Drive West and West 158th Street, and uses Riverside Drive to access Broadway and then West 155th Street, while buses heading to the terminus use West 157th Street and Riverside Drive West. Buses then continue on West 155th Street until it uses the Major Deegan Expressway service road and Jerome Avenue to access East 161st Street, while buses heading to Manhattan goes on West 155th Street from East 161st Street. It then continues on East 161st Street until it turns to Elton Avenue and then East 163rd Street, while buses heading to Manhattan use East 163rd Street and Washington Avenue to access Elton Avenue. It then continues on East 163rd Street until it turns to Rev J Polite, then East 163rd Street again, and goes on Hunts Point Avenue. It then continues on the avenue for a length until it turns to Spofford Avenue and then Halleck Street, and uses the latter street and Food Center Drive to access the terminus at Hunts Point Cooperative Market, while buses heading to Manhattan uses Food Center Drive to access Halleck Street.

Both the Bx6 and Bx6 SBS operate out of the West Farms Depot.

Select Bus Service


The Bx6 also employs Select Bus Service, the third in the Bronx and the 15th one in the whole city overall. It runs the same route as the Bx6 local, except that the eastbound SBS route follows the westbound local route instead of exiting the Macombs Dam Bridge to Jerome Avenue.

The Bx6 Select Bus Service is the first official SBS route to use CNG buses (they first ran on the Bx12 SBS, temporarily). It also does not run late nights.

Select Bus Service stops


History
Buses replaced 163rd Street Crosstown Line streetcars on October 25, 1947, operating as the Bx34.

In Fiscal Year 1963, this route was extended to directly serve industrial areas.

On February 14, 1965, the route was extended on mile from 155th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue to Riverside Drive and 157th Street via 155 Street, Broadway, and 157th Street.

The original southern terminus was at Halleck Street-East Bay Avenue. Service was partially extended to East Bay Avenue-Hunts Point Avenue in November 1967, and then to its current terminus in July 1974. It replaced the Bx15A on the same year, which ran between Norwood and Baychester.

On February 19, 1984, the entire Bronx bus system was revamped, with several routes renumbered, merged or eliminated. As part of the changes, the Bx34 was renumbered to the Bx6.

The former Bx34A rush hour-only shuttle service, running only within the eastern and western areas of Hunts Point, became part of the Bx6 in February 1984. The western branch of Hunts Point was eliminated in 1990, and was not replaced by another service until the Barreto Pool Shuttle (current Bx46) started serving the area in July 2008.

Select Bus Service


On September 3, 2017, the Bx6 SBS service was split from the existing Bx6 local service. The Bx6 SBS initially operated a similar route to the local, but the eastbound SBS route followed the westbound local route instead of exiting the Macombs Dam Bridge to Jerome Avenue. The Bx6 SBS supplements the existing Bx6 local service, making stops at select high-ridership locations and all transfers points to Metro-North and subways.

The Bx6 SBS is the third Bronx Bus line to have Select Bus Service and the first one since the Bx41 on June 30, 2013. It is also the first SBS to run a full CNG Fleet. The Bx6 is also the MTA's 15th Select Bus Service line to date.

The Bx6 corridor is the first to use bus lanes in the median of the street at the E 161st Street/Sheridan-Sherman Avenues stops, as opposed to curbside or offset bus lanes. The median bus lanes supposedly speeds up traffic by going around double-parked cars.

As part of the MTA's 2017 Fast Forward Plan to speed up mass transit service, a draft plan for a reorganization of Bronx bus routes was proposed in draft format in June 2019, with a final version published in October 2019. The plan included rerouting the Bx6 Select Bus Service along Bruckner Boulevard, Bronx River Avenue, and Story Avenue to a new east end at Turnbull and Pugsley Avenues, along the path of the Bx5 route. However, the Bx6 Local would have increased service south of Hunts Point Avenue station to compensate for the loss of the Bx6-SBS in Hunts Point. This change was proposed to be implemented by mid-2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, the changes were halted for over a year. In February 2022, it was announced that the modifications would take place on June 26, 2022, however the Bx6-SBS rerouting to Soundview would be delayed until 2024, after OMNY fully replaces MetroCard.