Bx12 bus
The Bx12 is a public transit line in New York City running along the 207th Street Crosstown Line (also called the Fordham Road−207th Street Crosstown Line[5] or Fordham Road Crosstown Line[6]), within the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. The line runs along 207th Street in Upper Manhattan and along the continuous Fordham Road and Pelham Parkway in the Bronx.
For additional information on the current bus services, see List of bus routes in the Bronx and Select Bus Service.
bx12bx12
Nova Bus LFS articulated (main vehicle)
Nova Bus LFS
Nova Bus LFS HEV
New Flyer Xcelsior XD40 (supplemental service)
Bx12 SBS: Select Bus Service
Inwood – Broadway / 207th Street (full route)
University Heights – Sedgwick Avenue (daytime local)
Pelham Bay Park (daytime local)
Orchard Beach (summertime local)
Baychester – Edson Avenue (late night)
Bay Plaza Shopping Center (full route)[note 1][1]
8.2 miles (13.2 km)[2]
5,900,063 (2023)[4]
The line started operating in the early 1900s as a streetcar line between Inwood in Manhattan and Belmont in the Bronx.[5][7] 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). Throughout the late 20th century, several separate bus routes were combined to form the Bx12. 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. In 2023, the total ridership was 5,900,063, making it the fourth-busiest line citywide, behind the B6, Q58 and M15.[4] The route has frequently been cited as a candidate for conversion to light rail.
History[edit]
Streetcar service[edit]
The Fordham Road/Pelham Parkway service began as a streetcar line operated by the Union Railway Company, a subsidiary of the Third Avenue Railway, and was the last Union Railway franchise to be constructed.[5][17] 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.[18][19]
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.[20] 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.[20][21] 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.[22] By 1909, the planned eastern extension was truncated to Southern Boulevard, with both extension plans delayed due to deadlock in negotiations with the city.[23] In 1910, the company once again petitioned the New York City Board of Estimate and the New York State 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).[24][25] The Manhattan extension was finally granted in June 1910.[26][27] Service across the bridge to Inwood began on November 29, 1910.[26]
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][28][29][30] The franchise was granted in December of that year.[28][31] The extension was initially opposed since many streets in the area were narrow.[28] 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.[29][30] The extension was never implemented.[32]