Third and Lexington Avenues Line
The Third and Lexington Avenues Line, also known as the Third Avenue Line, is a public transit line in Manhattan, New York City, running from Lower Manhattan to Fort George in Washington Heights. Originally a streetcar line, it now consists of the M98, M101, M102, and M103 bus routes, operated by the New York City Transit Authority. The M98 bus route operates on Third Avenue between East 65th Street and East 127th Street, although it previously continued to 32nd Street. The M101, M102 and M103 bus routes run southbound on Lexington Avenue north of East 24th Street.
m98, m101
m101, m102, m103
Manhattanville Depot (M98)
Tuskegee Airmen Depot (M101-M103)
Orion VII NG HEV (M98)
Nova Bus LFS HEV (M98 main; M101-M103 supplemental)
New Flyer Xcelsior XDE40 (M98)
Nova Bus LFS articulated (M101-M103)
New Flyer Xcelsior XD60 (M101-M103)
1853 (train)
1947 (bus)
2010 (current alignment)
Manhattan, New York, U.S.
M98: Upper East Side – 68th Street
M101-M102: East Village – 6th Street
M103: City Hall
Third Avenue (northbound)
Lexington Avenue (southbound)
M98: Washington Heights – Cabrini Boulevard
M101: Fort George – 193rd Street
M102: Harlem – 147th Street
M103: East Harlem – 125th Street
24 hours (M101-3)
Rush hours only (M98)
- 286,658 (M98, 2023)
- 4,306,670 (M101, 2023)
- 2,688,972 (M102, 2023)
- 2,378,376 (M103, 2023)[5]
Yes
History[edit]
Streetcar service[edit]
The Third Avenue Railroad opened a line in 1853, from Astor House at Broadway and Park Row to 86th Street, running north along Park Row, Bowery, where it shared tracks with the Second Avenue Line, and Third Avenue. In 1859, an extension to East Harlem opened. Using the 125th Street Crosstown Line and tracks along Amsterdam Avenue, Third Avenue cars were also operated to Fort George. A trolley park called the Fort George Amusement Park operated at that end of the line from 1895 to 1914.[10]
Bus service[edit]
New York Railways' Lexington Avenue Line streetcar was replaced by New York City Omnibus Corporation (NYCO) bus (M21 - 3/4) on March 25, 1936.[11] In 1936, the NYCO and Fifth Avenue were placed under common ownership. In 1941, Surface Transportation Corporation began operating former Third Avenue Railway routes. The Third Avenue Railway's Third Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue Line streetcar was replaced by the M101 bus operated by the Surface Transportation Corporation on May 18, 1947.[12]
On July 17, 1960, Third Avenue north of 24th Street became one-way northbound, and southbound buses were moved to Lexington Avenue, and the two parallel bus lines were combined as a one-way pair, keeping the route number M101.[13]
After a strike in 1962, the entire Fifth Avenue system was transferred to the newly formed Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority on March 22, 1962.[14][15][16]
Route M101A, formerly NYCO Fifth, Madison and Lenox Avenues route 2, was started on March 2, 1969.[17] This route was renumbered the M102 on July 1, 1974.[18]
Limited-stop service[edit]
New M98 Limited Stop service running between 32nd Street and Washington Heights was introduced on September 14, 1987, as a rush hour-only service.[19][20] A public hearing had been held on March 12, 1987 concerning the proposed introduction of the route. Service initially ran every 15 minutes between 6:30 and 9:30 a.m. southbound, and every 15 minutes northbound from 4 to 7 p.m.. with service every 30 minutes in the reverse-peak. Stops were added to the route in response to community requests at 187th Street, 125th Street, 116th Street and 107th Street. The route was designed to keep the number of stops to a minimum to attract ridership.[21]
Limited-stop service on the M101 began on October 14, 1991, with alternate buses running limited between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.[22]
On September 10, 1995, the M103 was created to improve reliability along Third and Lexington Avenues, curtailing the M101 and M102 south of Astor Place.[23]
In 2009, buses along the corridor were involved in a total of 268 accidents. The number is attributed to both inexperienced operators and the number of "obstacles" along the route.[24]
On June 27, 2010, due to shortfalls in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's budget, the M98 was truncated from 32nd Street to 68th Street. At the same time, southbound M98 service into the George Washington Bus Terminal was discontinued. These two changes were estimated to annually save $800,000.[25]
