The 14th Street Crosstown Line is a public transit line in Manhattan, New York City, running primarily along 14th Street from Chelsea or the West Village to the Lower East Side. Originally a streetcar line, it is now the M14 bus route, operated by the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority. The line's two variants, the M14A SBS and M14D SBS, use Avenue A and Avenue D respectively from 14th Street south into the Lower East Side.
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Route description and service
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Both M14 services share the 14th Street Crosstown corridor between 9th Avenue on the West Side and Avenue A on the Lower East Side. The "A" and "D" designations refer to the north–south streets used by each service within the Lower East Side (Avenue A and Avenue D respectively).[3][5]
West of 9th Avenue, the M14A SBS turns south along Hudson Street, terminating at Bleecker Street at Abingdon Square Park. The M14D SBS meanwhile, travels north to Chelsea Piers, serving Hudson River Park and the Chelsea Market. Until Select Bus Service was implemented, the M14A SBS followed this route during the overnight hours.[3][5] This was changed to operate to Abingdon Square at all times.[6] At the east end of the corridor, the M14A SBS turns south at Avenue A (which becomes Essex Street south of Houston Street), then east along Grand Street to the FDR Drive on the East River coastline. The M14D SBS travels along Avenue B, Avenue C, East 10th Street, then south along Avenue D (becoming Columbia Street) to Delancey Street at the Baruch Houses.[3][5]
During weekday rush hours, some M14 SBS buses make short turn runs, resulting in some westbound M14 buses terminating at either Union Square or Eighth Avenue, and some eastbound M14 buses terminating at First Avenue. These trips may be signed as just the M14, without any letter suffix.[3]
The M14A/D SBS routes supplement the 14th Street Line (L train), which runs from Eighth Avenue and continues into Brooklyn.[3][5]
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Stops
edit| Station Street traveled |
Direction | Connections |
|---|---|---|
| M14A only | ||
| Bleecker Street Eighth Avenue |
Eastbound station | |
| West 12th Street Hudson Street |
Westbound terminus | |
| West 13th Street Hudson Street |
Westbound |
NYC Bus: M11, M12 to Abingdon Square |
| M14D only | ||
| Ninth Avenue West 14th Street |
Westbound |
NYC Bus: M11 to Riverbank State Park M12 to Columbus Circle |
| Tenth Avenue West 14th Street | ||
| West 15th Street Eleventh Avenue |
||
| West 17th Street Eleventh Avenue |
||
| Tenth Avenue West 18th Street |
Westbound terminus; eastbound station |
NYC Bus: M12 to Abingdon Square |
| West 18th Street Ninth Avenue |
Eastbound |
NYC Bus: M11, M12 to Abingdon Square |
| Hudson Street West 14th Street |
||
| M14A and M14D | ||
| Eighth Avenue West 14th Street |
Bidirectional |
NYC Bus: M12 to Columbus Circle, M20 to Lincoln Center |
| Seventh Avenue West 14th Street |
NYC Bus: M20 to South Ferry | |
| Sixth Avenue West 14th Street |
NYC Bus: M7 to Harlem at West 17th Street, M55 to West 44th Street/Sixth Avenue | |
| Fifth Avenue West 14th Street |
Westbound | |
| Union Square West/University Place East 14th Street |
Bidirectional | |
| Irving Place East 14th Street |
NYC Bus: M1 to Harlem, M2 to Washington Heights, M3 to Fort George | |
| Third Avenue East 14th Street |
NYC Bus: M101, M102, M103 | |
| Second Avenue East 14th Street |
||
| First Avenue East 14th Street |
NYC Bus: M15 Local to East Harlem, M15 SBS to East Harlem | |
| Avenue A East 14th Street |
NYC Subway: | |
| M14A only | ||
| East 11th Street Avenue A |
Bidirectional |
NYC Bus: M8 at East 10th Street |
| East 5th Street Avenue A |
||
| East Houston Street Avenue A |
||
| Delancey Street Essex Street |
NYC Bus: M9, B39 | |
| Grand Street Essex Street |
NYC Bus: M9 | |
| Clinton Street Grand Street |
||
| Pitt Street Grand Street |
||
| East Broadway Grand Street |
Eastbound | |
| Jackson Street Grand Street |
||
| Columbia Street Grand Street |
Westbound | |
| Madison Street Jackson Street |
NYC Bus: M22 | |
| FDR Drive Grand Street |
Eastbound terminus; Westbound station |
NYC Bus: M22 to Battery Park City |
| M14D only | ||
| Avenue B East 14th Street |
Bidirectional | |
| Avenue C East 14th Street |
NYC Bus: M9 | |
| East 11th/12th Streets Avenue C |
NYC Bus: M8 at East 10th Street, M9 | |
| Avenue D East 10th Street |
NYC Bus: M8 to West Village | |
| East 5th/6th Streets Avenue D |
||
| East 4th Street Avenue D |
Eastbound | |
| East Houston Street Avenue D |
Westbound |
NYC Bus: M21 |
| Columbia Street East Houston Street |
Eastbound |
NYC Bus: M21 to Lower East Side |
| Mangin Street East Houston Street | ||
| 555 FDR Drive FDR Drive | ||
| FDR Drive Delancey Street |
||
| Rivington Street Columbia Street |
Westbound station |
NYC Bus: M21 to Soho |
| Columbia Street Delancey Street |
Eastbound terminus; Westbound station | |
History
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The tracks were built by several companies and pieced together by the Metropolitan Street Railway by 1899. The Bleecker Street and Fulton Ferry Railroad built the 14th Street tracks west of 9th Avenue, the Central Crosstown Railroad built from 9th Avenue to Union Square, and the Forty-Second Street and Grand Street Ferry Railroad built from Union Square to Avenue A and south on Avenue A. The Metropolitan Crosstown built a short connection at Union Square to connect the two halves, and tracks north on 11th Avenue to the West 23rd Street Ferry.
When the Williamsburg Bridge opened in 1904, 14th Street cars were rerouted to use the bridge (running east on Delancey Street from the one-way pair of Clinton Street northbound and Essex Street southbound), running as the 14th Street-Williamsburg Bridge Line until 1911. Buses were substituted for streetcars by the New York City Omnibus Corporation on April 20, 1936.
Avenue D service was added on January 28, 1951, initially running from Broadway along 14th Street, Avenue D and Columbia Street to Stanton Street, and returning on Cannon Street and Houston Street.[7]
In 1956, New York City Omnibus Corporation became Fifth Avenue Coach Lines; the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority (MaBSTOA) subsidiary of the New York City Transit Authority took over operations in 1962.[8]
The route was once operated by the now defunct Hudson Pier Depot and was known only as the M14. When the depot was taken over by the Quill depot, it was separated into three lines, the M14A, M14C and M14D. Following the September 11 attacks, security measures at the Consolidated Edison power plant were tightened, and the block of East 14th Street between Avenue C and Avenue D was closed to the public. Service was consolidated on the Avenue C and Avenue D branches of the M14, with bus service running along Avenue C, East 10th Street, and Avenue D. In May 2002, the MTA announced plans to consolidate the two routes to improve service, and make operations simpler.[9] Eventually it was decided since the route ran primarily on Avenue D the route would be renamed M14D.
From 2004 to 2006, the M14C briefly returned running down Avenue C to Houston Street, then turning east towards Avenue D/Columbia Street and resuming the normal route. This new route began running late and caused confusion with the M21 on Avenue C and eventually service returned to its current state as the M14A and M14D. Afterward, Avenue C was temporarily served by the M21 bus, but since 2010, it has been served by the M9 bus.
Select Bus Service
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In April 2019, a Select Bus Service line was planned to run along 14th Street to provide alternate service during the original L train shutdown plan. Service was expected to operate from Ninth Avenue to Avenue C, then turn north along Avenue C to 20th Street, where there would be a ferry transfer.[10][11] This route was to be another branch supplementing the existing M14A/D designation, but the existing lines would not be converted to Select Bus Service. To facilitate bus trips on the M14 corridor, the 14th Street busway would be implemented, turning parts of 14th Street into a bus-only street during rush hours.[12] The Select Bus Service route was to be implemented by January 6, 2019, three months before the tunnel was set to shut down. It was to initially run with five stops in each direction between First Avenue/14th Street and 10th Avenue/14th Street. Local service on the M14A and M14D would be retained with minor modifications.[13] One or two weeks before the tunnel would originally close, the M14 SBS was to be extended to Stuyvesant Cove. The M14A/D local and the M14 SBS would be able to serve a combined 84,000 passengers every hour, with a bus every two minutes during rush hours. During late night hours, the M14 SBS would be replaced by the L14 SBS route to the Bedford Avenue station in Brooklyn.[14][15] After the 14th Street Tunnel work was completed, some version of M14 SBS service would continue operating.[16]
On January 4, 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the L train shutdown would be modified. An alternate plan of weekend and late-night construction would be executed instead, therefore putting the initial M14 SBS plan in limbo.[17][18] New York City Transit later announced that it still planned to implement SBS along the corridor, and continued to work with the DOT on a plan for permanent service. The preliminary plan was to convert both the M14A and M14D routes into SBS routes.[19] On March 6, 2019, the NYCDOT met with elected officials and revealed plans to implement Select Bus Service on both the M14A and the M14D in June 2019, with an accelerated timeline to provide an alternative to L service. The implementation of bus lanes on the branches in the Lower East Side was to be implemented later on. Bus stops on each branch would be spaced out to speed up service. The M14A's terminal loop through Abingdon Square was to be implemented on a 9-month trial due to difficulty of bus operations there, as well as complaints of buses laying over in the Abingdon Square area. If the terminal was eliminated during or after the trial, service would be extended to Tenth Avenue. As of May 2022, the M14A continues to serve Abingdon Square at all times.[6] Bus lanes would either make use of the busway layout intended for the Tunnel shutdown or would consist of standard bus lanes.[20][21]
In April 2019, the busway was added back to the plan.[22][23][24][25] SBS was later pushed back to July 1, 2019.[26][27] However, due to a lawsuit, the busway was not implemented as scheduled,[28][29] and after another delay that August,[30][31] went into effect on October 3, 2019.[32][33] The busway was so successful on its first day that M14 buses had to be slowed down in order to keep from running ahead of their posted schedules.[34] In December 2019, the M14A/D SBS were the launch routes for the MTA's new battery-electric New Flyer Xcelsior XE60 buses.[35]
References
edit- ^ "M14A-SBS" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
- ^ "M14D-SBS" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f MTA Regional Bus Operations. "M14 SBS bus schedule" (PDF).
- ^ "Subway and bus ridership for 2023". mta.info. April 29, 2024. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Manhattan Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- ^ a b "M14 SBS Bus Schedule" (PDF).
- ^ "New Bus Service Sunday". The New York Times. January 26, 1951. p. 23.
- ^ Jackson, Kenneth T.; Keller, Lisa; Flood, Nancy (December 1, 2010). The Encyclopedia of New York City: Second Edition. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-18257-6.
- ^ May 2002 NYC Transit Committee Agenda. New York City Transit. May 29, 2002. pp. 94, 95, https://www.flickr.com/photos/unionturnpike/48482438452/in/album-72157710163565677/ 96], 97.
- ^ Rivoli, Dan (May 7, 2016). "Looming L train shutdown forces riders to consider future". NY Daily News. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
- ^ Nir, Sarah Maslin (April 3, 2018). "With L Train Shutdown a Year Off, Lower Manhattan Braces for Upheaval". The New York Times. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
- ^ "14th Street Corridor Traffic Analysis Overview" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. February 22, 2018. p. 2. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
- ^ "Transit & Bus Committee Meeting" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 23, 2018. pp. 201–205. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
- ^ Mascali, Nikki M. (July 24, 2018). "City launching M14 SBS bus ahead of L train shutdown". Metro US. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
- ^ Barone, Vincent (July 23, 2018). "MTA sets rollout date for L train shutdown busway". am New York. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
- ^ "MTA, DOT to Launch M14 SBS Ahead of L Train Tunnel Reconstruction Project". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 23, 2018. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
- ^ Baird-Remba, Rebecca (January 3, 2019). "Cuomo Cancels Full L Train Shutdown in Favor of Part-Time Closures". Commercial Observer. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
- ^ "Some Transit Alternatives Already in the Works for the L Train Shutdown". www.ny1.com. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
- ^ "L Project Weekly #10: This week's news, that Court Sq moving walkway, Select Bus Service coming to 14th Street". us18.campaign-archive.com. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. February 16, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
- ^ "M14A/D Select Bus Service Elected Officials Briefing March 6, 2019". New York City Department of Transportation. March 6, 2019. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
- ^ "Select Bus Service Package of improvements working together to keep buses moving" (PDF). new.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
- ^ Berger, Paul (April 24, 2019). "New York City to Ban Private Cars From Manhattan Corridor for L Train Repairs". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ^ "NYC Pilot Program Will Limit Cars Along 14th Street". NBC New York. April 24, 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
- ^ Plitt, Amy (April 24, 2019). "NYC will limit private cars on 14th Street during L train 'slowdown'". Curbed NY. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
- ^ Barone, Vincent (April 24, 2019). "Advocates hail 14th Street plan while locals rail". am New York. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
- ^ "Commuter Alert: Most Of 14th Street Will Be Closed To Cars Most Of The Time Starting July 1". CBS New York. June 11, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
- ^ Spivack, Caroline (June 11, 2019). "Dedicated busway on 14th Street will roll out on July 1". Curbed NY. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
- ^ Barone, Vincent (July 1, 2019). "14th Street busway supporters slam lawsuit as classist". am New York. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
- ^ Spivack, Caroline (June 28, 2019). "14th Street busway blocked by judge". Curbed NY. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
- ^ Lee, Vivian (August 10, 2019). "Ban on Most Cars on 14th Street Delayed Amid Last-Minute Appeal". Spectrum News NY1 | New York City. Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
- ^ Spivack, Caroline (August 9, 2019). "Judge hits brakes on 14th Street busway—again". Curbed NY. Archived from the original on August 11, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
- ^ "Busway plan banning most cars from 14th Street kicks off Thursday". Crain's New York Business. Bloomberg. September 30, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
- ^ Plitt, Amy (September 27, 2019). "14th Street busway gets the green light from judges". Curbed NY. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
- ^ Berger, Paul (October 3, 2019). "Buses Cruise Through Manhattan Corridor as Traffic Change Takes Effect". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
- ^ "MTA deploys first all-electric articulated bus fleet to 14th Street busway". Mass Transit Magazine. December 16, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
External links
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Media related to M14 (New York City bus) at Wikimedia Commons- Select Bus Service − mta.info
- M14 SBS: Keeping Buses Moving on 14 St and the Lower East Side − mta.info
- 14th Street Select Bus Service with Transit & Truck Priority Pilot Project − NYCDOT
