The Q11, Q52, and Q53 bus routes constitute a public transit corridor running along Woodhaven and Cross Bay Boulevards in Queens, New York City. The corridor extends primarily along the length of the two boulevards through "mainland" Queens, a distance of between Elmhurst and the Jamaica Bay shore in Howard Beach. The Q52 and Q53 buses, which provide Select Bus Service along the corridor, continue south across Jamaica Bay to the Rockaway peninsula, one of the few public transit options between the peninsula and the rest of the city.
The Q11 on Woodhaven Boulevard, along with the now-discontinued Q21 on Cross Bay Boulevard, were formerly privately operated by Green Bus Lines, and the Q53 was formerly operated by Triboro Coach. All three routes were operated under subsidized franchises with the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT). The Q11 and Q21 started service along the corridor in 1918 and 1923, respectively. These routes came under the control of Green Bus Lines in the 1930s when the borough's bus system was divided into four lettered "zones", with "Zone C" including Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park, Howard Beach, and the Rockaways operated by Green Lines. An additional route along the corridor, the Q53, was added in 1950, to replace the Long Island Rail Road's Rockaway Beach Branch service to the Rockaways, which was shut down due to a trestle fire. This service was operated by Triboro Coach.
In 2006, all three routes had their operations taken over by the MTA Bus Company brand of MTA Regional Bus Operations. The Q53 originally was a premium fare service, with a long nonstop segment from Rego Park to Broad Channel, as it was a replacement service for rail. Soon after the MTA's takeover of the route, it was converted to be a limited-stop service, with six stops along the corridor. The Q21, which originally served only Cross Bay Boulevard and ran between Rockaway Boulevard and the Rockaways, was subsequently extended up Woodhaven Boulevard, and its southern terminus in the Rockaways was switched. Increased ridership resulted in the creation of the Q21 Limited; this was soon replaced by the Q52 Limited, which replaced Q21 service south of Howard Beach.
Since 2008, the Woodhaven-Cross Bay corridor has undergone studies for Select Bus Service (SBS) implementation, which has converted the Q52 and Q53 into bus rapid transit routes. However, the project was delayed by controversy over proposed changes to the corridor, including left-turn bans and the proposed installation of bus lanes in the corridor's median. The first phase of the project began service on November 12, 2017. As part of the Queens bus redesign, on August 31, 2025, the Q21 was discontinued and replaced by the Q11 in Lindenwood.
Route description
The Q11, Q52, and Q53 all share a route along most of Woodhaven and Cross Bay Boulevards, between Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst and Pitkin Avenue in Ozone Park. The Q11 provides local service, while the Q52 and Q53 provide limited-stop service and extend into the Rockaways, an isolated peninsula in the south-west of Long Island which is popular as a summer retreat. The Q11 and now-discontinued Q21 originally corresponded to the northern (Woodhaven) and southern (Cross Bay) portions of the Boulevard respectively, while the Q53 originally made no stops along the corridor. The corridor parallels the former Rockaway Beach Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, whose northern half remains inactive and whose southern half was reactivated for rapid transit service as the IND Rockaway Line of the New York City Subway. Service on the line to the Rockaways across Jamaica Bay was halted due to the 1950 fire on the Jamaica Bay trestle, and the LIRR sold the line to New York City due to its bankruptcy. The LIRR maintained service on the northern half of the line until 1962 while the NYCTA began operating subway service on the southern half in 1956.
Except for the Q53, all buses along the corridor end northbound service at Queens and Woodhaven Boulevards, at the Woodhaven Boulevard subway station of the IND Queens Boulevard Line and at the foot of Queens Center mall. Buses reenter service in a dedicated bus stop area on Hoffman Drive adjacent to the south side of Queens Boulevard. The Q53 serves these stops on its through service to or from Woodside.
Q11
The Q11 begins at Queens Boulevard, and runs down the entire length of Woodhaven Boulevard and a short portion of Cross Bay Boulevard to Pitkin Avenue. South of Pitkin Avenue, the Q11 turns west, running on several local streets to provide service to the neighborhood of Lindenwood. Some buses terminate at Cross Bay Boulevard and Pitkin Avenue, while others continue via 157th Avenue to serve Old Howard Beach and Hamilton Beach (two neighborhoods separated by Hawtree Creek) in one trip.
The original Q11 route served both Old Howard Beach and Hamilton Beach as a single branch. After running to 165th Avenue in Old Howard Beach, it crossed a bridge over Hawtree Creek, which has since been removed, then ran north in Hamilton Beach to 102nd Street and Russell Street.
Prior to the Queens bus redesign in 2025, the southernmost part of the route turned east at Pitkin Avenue, then south along several local streets through the eastern portion of Howard Beach, running near Aqueduct Racetrack and the Howard Beach–JFK Airport station of the subway and AirTrain JFK. At 160th Avenue, the route split into two branches; a western branch to Old Howard Beach and an eastern branch to Hamilton Beach. Both terminated near the southern coast of their respective neighborhoods at 165th Avenue. Select weekday rush hour trips and all late night service short-turned at Pitkin Avenue, via Redding Street. Prior to 2010, 24-hour service had been provided to Old Howard Beach and Hamilton Beach.
Starting September 4, 2025, on weekday afternoons during the school year, select Q11 buses operate "school tripper" service from Rockaway Park. These trips begin at Beach 104th Street at the Scholars' Academy (I.S. 323) and across from Beach Channel Educational Campus, and operate along the former Q21 route through the Rockaways and Broad Channel. Three buses depart at 3pm, followed by one more at 3:45, all going to Elmhurst. This service was provided by the Q52 until it was converted into Select Bus Service in 2017 (see below). This school tripper service was also offered on the Q21 until its discontinuation in 2025.
The Q11 also serves J.H.S. 202 Robert H. Goddard and M.S. 210 Elizabeth Blackwell during the school year, with all trips going to Elmhurst. The former trips have three buses depart at 1:50 followed by another three at 2:30-2:32, heading to Cross Bay Boulevard via 149th Avenue. The latter trips have three more buses all depart at 2:30, heading to Woodhaven Boulevard via 94th Street and 101st Avenue.
Q52 SBS
The Q52 was created in July 2012 to replace the former Q21 Limited service (refer to ). It begins at Queens Boulevard and runs down the entire length of Woodhaven and Cross Bay Boulevards through "mainland" Queens, making limited stops. It then crosses the Joseph P. Addabbo Memorial Bridge onto the island of Broad Channel within the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, where it makes several stops. It then crosses the Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge onto the Rockaway peninsula in the neighborhood of Hammels, where it turns east onto Rockaway Beach Boulevard. The Q52 continues down the boulevard, turning left on Beach 62nd Street, right on Arverne Boulevard, and left on Beach 54th Street, terminating at Beach Channel Drive in Edgemere. Elmhurst-bound buses originating from that stop would use Beach Channel Drive before turning left on Beach 59th Street, right on Rockaway Beach Boulevard, and via its normal route through Woodhaven and Cross Bay Boulevards. Prior to April 2017, southbound Q52s terminated at Beach 69th Street in Arverne, reentering service two blocks east at the Beach 67th Street subway station.
This route, along with the Q53, was converted to a Select Bus Service route on November 12, 2017. The route makes fewer stops than the limited-stop service, uses articulated buses, and travels on the corridor's bus lanes for a large section of its route, speeding travel times. As part of the conversion, it has been proposed to extend the Q52 east to Far Rockaway, along a similar route to the former Q21A. On August 31, 2025, the Q52 was extended slightly east to Beach 51st Street. The first northbound stop, at Beach 51st Street, does not have fare machines like the other stops do, and as such can be utilized only by riders who pay using OMNY card or contactless device.
Q53 SBS
The Q53 SBS is the longest of the three routes, running . It begins in Woodside, at the 61st Street subway station of the IRT Flushing Line and the Woodside LIRR station. The route then runs east along Roosevelt Avenue and Broadway, before joining the other three routes at Woodhaven Boulevard and Queens Boulevard and following the Q52's Select Bus Service-stop service pattern through mainland Queens and Broad Channel. After crossing Jamaica Bay and entering the Rockaway peninsula, the Q53 turns west on Rockaway Beach Boulevard and terminates at the Beach 116th Street subway station of the IND Rockaway Line in Rockaway Park.
Created as a replacement for Rockaway Beach Branch service in the 1950s, the Q53 was originally labeled an express service. It made stops at the Woodside LIRR station, Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street subway station, Grand Avenue station, and 63rd Drive subway station (near the former Rego Park LIRR station) before running non-stop to Broad Channel and the Rockaways. Under the MTA, limited-stop service along Woodhaven and Cross Bay Boulevard was added in 2006, with service in Elmhurst added in 2009, and overnight service was added in 2013.
The Q53, originally being operated by Triboro Coach operated from the LaGuardia Depot in East Elmhurst. Under takeover by the MTA, it was transferred to College Point Depot, a former Queens Surface Corporation facility on January 5, 2014, due to construction at the LaGuardia Depot. It returned to LaGuardia Depot, on January 8, 2017, in exchange for the .
Select Bus Service stops
Express bus service
In addition to local and limited-stop service, four bus routes () provide express bus service to Manhattan via the Woodhaven and Cross Bay corridor. The QM16 and QM17 provide service to the Rockaway Peninsula and Broad Channel, beginning in Neponsit (west) and Far Rockaway (east) respectively. They then make stops along Cross Bay Boulevard into Howard Beach, before running non-stop to Manhattan north of the Belt Parkway. The QM15 has multiple start points, Cross Bay Boulevard and 157th Avenue, Eastern Howard Beach near Aqueduct Racetrack, or Beach Channel Drive and Beach 54 Street in Arverne, and runs the Lindenwood route of the Q21 before making stops along the rest of the corridor. The BM5, which originates in Starrett City, Brooklyn, also serves the corridor north of Conduit Avenue, but does not make any stops north of 63rd Drive. All four routes proceed onto the Long Island Expressway at the interchange near Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst. All routes were formerly operated by Green Bus Lines, except the BM5, which was operated by Command Bus Company.
Other bus routes The following also run on parts of the corridor: The runs via Cross Bay Boulevard and Lindenwood between 164th Avenue and Rockaway Boulevard. It then proceeds east on Rockaway Boulevard and several local streets towards the 168th Street Bus Terminal in Downtown Jamaica, which is the terminus for many routes formerly operated by Green Bus Lines, also known as Green Lines. The and run on the boulevard to Queens Center Mall (northbound), or from Hoffman Drive (southbound). The Q29 heads to Dry Harbor Road, while the Q14 heads to Eliot Avenue.