The Q45, Q46, and Q48 bus routes constitute a public transit line in Queens, New York City, running primarily along Union Turnpike. Their western terminus is a major transfer with the New York City Subway's IND Queens Boulevard Line at the Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike station. The Q45 is a local route, making all stops on Union Turnpike between Queens Boulevard and 188th Street, before turning north at 188th Street and terminating in Fresh Meadows, Queens. The Q46 and Q48 are rush routes, making limited stops on Union Turnpike between Queens Boulevard and 188th Street, and local stops elsewhere. At their eastern ends, the Q48 travels to the Glen Oaks neighborhood of Queens, while the Q46 continues to Long Island Jewish Hospital (LIJ) in the village of Lake Success in Nassau County.
Originally a single bus route named the Q44A, the route was originally operated by the North Shore Bus Company from December 4, 1939, to 1947 when the company's routes were taken over by the New York City Board of Transportation. In 1974, the route was extended into Nassau County at Lakeville Road to serve LIJ Hospital. In 1977, limited-stop service on the route commenced, speeding up travel times for passengers in Eastern Queens. On April 12, 1990, the bus route was renumbered to Q46. It was extended from Lakeville Road to LIJ Hospital on September 7, 1997. Overnight and weekend service to Glen Oaks was eliminated in September 2002. On June 29, 2025, local service was spun off into the new Q45, and Glen Oaks service was spun off into the new Q48.
Route description and service
The Q45, Q46, and Q48 begin on the north side of Queens Boulevard at the Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike station of the New York City Subway's IND Queens Boulevard Line, where there is a transfer to the . The route travels east via Union Turnpike. The Northeast Queens Bus Study, released in 2015, found that the Q46 has the largest single transfer from one route to a subway station with 5,965 weekday passengers transferring at the Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike subway station.
The Q45 turns north at 188th Street, running to 64th Avenue, where it terminates. The Q46 and Q48 continue east on Union Turnpike. At 260th Street in Glen Oaks, near the east end of Union Turnpike, the Q46 and Q48 split. The Q48, which only operates on weekdays, turns north onto 260th Street and terminates at Little Neck Parkway near the Queens County Farm Museum. The Q46 continues east on Union Turnpike until Lakeville Road, where the bus turns north, before briefly entering Nassau County and terminating at Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJ).
Prior to 2025, limited-stop service was operated along the Q46 route during rush hours in the peak direction, making limited stops between Queens Boulevard and Springfield Boulevard, and local stops east of Springfield Boulevard. The Q48 was once a local route that operated between Roosevelt Avenue and Main Street in Flushing and LaGuardia Airport in East Elmhurst via Roosevelt Avenue, 108th Street-31st Drive, and Ditmars Boulevard. The Q45 is classified as a "local" route, which makes local stops along Union Turnpike from Queens Boulevard to 188th Street, albeit with fewer stops than the original Q46 route prior to 2025. The Q46 and Q48 are both classified as "rush" routes, making limited stops in both directions along Union Turnpike west of 188th Street. Both routes make local stops east of 188th Street.
School trippers When school is in session, several buses begin at Commonwealth Boulevard near a school complex and operate to Kew Gardens between 2:35 and 3:12pm, with one more departing at 3:51pm. These trips operate as the Q46 Rush. Two more Q46 buses depart across from Archbishop Molloy High School at Main/Manton Streets, and operate the full route to LIJ Hospital at 2:25 and 2:30pm. These trips head to Union Turnpike via Main Street.
History
Early years The North Shore Bus Company began operating a bus route along Union Turnpike on December 4, 1939. Prior to World War II, the route was originally the Union Turnpike branch of the , running between Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens and 188th Street. By 1942, the route was extended to Hollis Court Boulevard at the east end of Cunningham Park. It was later renamed the Q44A. North Shore Bus became bankrupt, and as a result this route, along with the company's 26 other routes were taken over by the New York City Board of Transportation in March 1947.
On August 12, 1947, the United Civic Council advocated for the extension of the Q44A, then under city control, from Hollis Court Boulevard to Springfield Boulevard. At the time, the extension had preliminary approval from some of the members of the Board of Transportation. This extension took place on September 7, but only after pressure from civic organizations. On November 30, 1947, under city control, the Q44A was extended from Springfield Boulevard to Glen Oaks Village at Union Turnpike and 251st Street to serve new apartments there. In January 1948 the route was extended to 257th Street.
On January 13, 1950, a spur of the Q44A was approved to turn off at 260th Street and operate via 260th Street to Little Neck Parkway. Service began on February 5, 1950. Previously, all Q44A buses continued along Union Turnpike to the Nassau County line at Lakeville Road. This spur provided direct service to Glen Oaks Village, sparing its residents a half-mile walk. This extension had been requested on December 16, 1949, and the public hearing was held on January 12, 1950.
Express service and route extension
Q44A Express In December 1950, the North Cunningham Civic Association advocated for the implementation of zone express service along the route in the peak direction during rush hours. The group suggested having some buses run local to Utopia Parkway, some only making stops between Utopia Parkway and Hollis Court Boulevard, some only making stops between Hollis Court Boulevard and Commonwealth Boulevard, with the final variant only making stops east of the Cross Island Parkway. On June 28, 1954, express service on the Q44A began, with expresses leaving the City Line between 6:59 a.m. and 8:27 a.m. and leaving from the Kew Gardens subway station between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.. These buses ran in the peak direction and made transfer stops at Main Street and Utopia Parkway, and were expected to save 5 to 7 minutes.
In 1974, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) began to study whether bus service could be sped up using computerized traffic signals. The Q44A was the chosen route as it serves as a subway feeder and as a connector to major hospitals. In the late 1950s, the route carried as many as 7.5 million passengers per year, but that figure decreased to 3.78 million by 1976. Union Turnpike received computerized traffic signals before other streets, but it did little to cut travel times for bus passengers. As part of the plan, it was decided that a zone express concept could be used on the Q44A without inconveniencing many passengers, while benefiting a majority of them.
Limited-stop service began on April 18, 1977 with the intent of attracting new riders to the route.
Along with the M15, the two routes became the first to use limited service in the city. Limited-stop service would be bidirectional during the AM rush hour, and peak-direction (heading east) during the PM rush hour. These limited-stop buses were labeled as expresses. Eastbound expresses only stopped at Court House (only east-bound), Main Street, 149th Street, and Springfield Boulevard before making all stops. After running local to Winchester Boulevard, westbound expresses only stopped at Cloverdale Boulevard (226th Street), Springfield Boulevard, 149th Street, Main Street, and the subway. Some buses on the Glen Oaks Branch used to continue up Little Neck Parkway, turning west on the Grand Central Parkway service road, and turning onto Commonwealth Road, going east on the Grand Central Parkway service road, before it terminated at Little Neck Parkway and 260th Street. Between 4:50 and 6:35 PM, local service only ran to Springfield Boulevard, and free transfers were issued to continue past Springfield Boulevard via express Q44As. The express Q44As were also intended to compete with privately owned expresses buses operated by Queens Surface–travel times were 20 minutes shorter and the fare was $5 less.
The Q44A expresses were able to take advantage of the timed traffic signals for the first time, cutting scheduled running time to 27 minutes from 33 minutes. The average terminal-to-terminal speed of the zone expresses was better than –significantly higher than on any other bus route in the city. Seat availability increased by 40%, travel times were reduced by 24%, and passengers from the outer reaches of Eastern Queens could get to Midtown Manhattan in less than an hour. All of this was possible with no change in labor costs, no additional vehicles, and with a slight increase in fuel consumption. Q44A express service increased ridership on the route by 15%.
Extension and changes in service
In April 1974, an extension of the Q44A to LIJ Hospital was approved, which made it the first city route to extend into Nassau County. The extension was approved by Queens Borough President Donald Manes and Nassau County Executive Ralph Caso, and it was first proposed by the Lost Community Civic Association of Floral Park. The extension faced legal hurdles–the NYCTA did not authorize it to operate any franchised service outside city limits. However, in 1968, with the passage of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Act, the NYCTA became subordinate to the MTA, which could determine transit plans and policies for the NYCTA. The head of the MTA, William Ronan, searched for a legal mechanism to allow for the extension. The decided course of action included a request for the service by the Queens Borough President and approval by the Nassau County Executive, an approval or no objection by the New York City Comptroller and approval by the Mayor.
When the Queens Village Depot was opened on September 8, 1974, the Q44A was reassigned from Flushing Depot (the former North Shore Bus Company facility). Around this time, there was a third branch in Little Neck, separate from the Glen Oaks branch. This branch diverged north at Commonwealth Boulevard, running along Commonwealth and the Grand Central Parkway service road and terminating at Little Neck Parkway. On March 4, 1979, after years of requests from local residents, the terminal loop of the Q44A was changed. Instead of operating via 270th Street between Union Turnpike and 77th Avenue, and along 77th Avenue from 270th Street to Hewlett Avenue, buses would run along Lakeville Road, 77th Avenue, and Hewlett Avenue, and back onto Lakeville Road.
The Q44A was renumbered to the Q46 on April 12, 1990. The Q46 was extended from Lakeville Road to LIJ Hospital on September 7, 1997, saving a half-mile walk. On November 17, 1997, limited-stop buses started to make an additional stop at 150th Street.