Merrick Boulevard buses
The Q5, Q85, Q86, Q87, and Q89 bus routes constitute a public transit corridor running along Merrick Boulevard in southeastern Queens, New York City. The routes run from the Jamaica Center transit hub and business district to Rosedale, with continued service to Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, Nassau County. The Q4 and Q84 buses also serve the northern portion of the corridor, before diverging east along Linden Boulevard and 120th Avenue respectively. The Q5 makes local stops on the corridor, while the Q85, Q86, Q87, and Q89 are rush routes, making limited stops along the corridor and local stops elsewhere. The routes on the corridor mainly serve as feeder routes to New York City Subway services at Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer station.
The Q4, Q5, Q84, and Q85 routes were operated by Bee-Line Inc. and later the North Shore Bus Company until 1947. The four routes were later taken over by MTA Regional Bus Operations under the New York City Transit brand. On June 29, 2025, all weekday Q5 service began terminating at 233rd Street, and all weekend daytime service began running to Green Acres, with its Rosedale branch replaced by the Q86. Weekday service to Green Acres is provided by the Q87, and the Q85’s Green Acres branch was spun off into the Q89. All of these routes are operated by MTA Regional Bus Operations.
Route description and service
The Q5, Q85, Q86, Q87, and Q89 share most of the Queens portion of Merrick Boulevard, which runs southeast towards the Nassau County border. The routes run from the Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer bus terminal to either Rosedale near the Nassau County border or Green Acres Mall in Nassau County. The Q5 makes all local stops along the corridor, running only as far east as 228th Street on the weekdays; it is extended to Green Acres Mall during the weekends, running via Hook Creek Boulevard. The Q85, Q86, Q87, and Q89 routes are rush routes, making limited stops on Merrick Boulevard and local stops elsewhere.Due to high ridership and congestion, the corridor has been identified as a potential bus rapid transit corridor under the city's Select Bus Service program. Though it was one of five priority corridors selected for SBS in 2004, the Merrick Boulevard corridor was eventually scrapped because of community opposition related to loss of parking. The Merrick Boulevard corridor was not listed as a potential SBS corridor by the 2010s. The corridor is also frequented by dollar vans, which parallel the bus routes. Buses along the corridor operate out of the Jamaica Bus Depot on Merrick Boulevard near Jamaica Center.
Q5
The Q5 begins at Bay A of the Jamaica Center Bus Terminal, traveling southeast down nearly the entire length of Merrick Boulevard in Queens. On weekdays, buses terminate at 233rd Street, with weekday service to Green Acres Mall being provided by the Q87 east of that point. On weekends, Q5 buses run to Green Acres Mall when it is open and to the Rosedale LIRR station when the mall is closed. At the county line, the route turns south along Hook Creek Boulevard to Conduit Avenue. The Green Acres branch travels east along Conduit Avenue, which becomes the Sunrise Highway in Nassau County, then makes a clockwise loop around the Green Acres Mall, terminating at the parking structure at West Circle Drive. The Rosedale branch travels west along Conduit Avenue and ends at Francis Lewis Boulevard, with service heading back to Jamaica via Brookville Boulevard.When school is in session, four extra trips run to Jamaica from three different points of origin. Two buses depart from 108th Avenue near P.S./I.S. 116 William C. Hughley at 2:30 and 2:32pm; one bus departs from 233rd Street at P.S./I.S. 270 Gordon Parks at 2:25pm; and one bus departs from Springfield Boulevard near I.S. 059 Springfield Gardens at 2:40pm.
Q85, Q86, Q87, and Q89
The Q85 and Q89 begin at Bay B of the Jamaica Center Bus Terminal, while the Q86 and Q87 begin at Bay A. All four routes are rush routes, making limited stops on the portions of the routes that operate on Merrick Boulevard; the Q86 and Q87 make local stops on Merrick Boulevard east of Springfield Boulevard. All four routes run seven days a week. The Q85 runs 24 hours a day every day. The Q86 does not run on weekend nights, and the Q89 does not run at night on any day of the week.The Q85 and Q89 run down Merrick Boulevard to Baisley Boulevard and 120th Avenue in St. Albans. They then turn south along Baisley Boulevard and run Bedell Street, and 140th Avenue to Springfield Boulevard. The Q85 and Q89 routes then turn south along Springfield Boulevard to Conduit Avenue, then east along Conduit Avenue, along the former Brooklyn-Freeport Line streetcar route. At Francis Lewis Boulevard near the Rosedale LIRR station, the Q85 and Q89 split. The Q85 turns south along 243rd Street and terminates at the intersection of 147th Avenue and Huxley Street, with a transfer to the to continue farther east along 147th Avenue. The Q89 continues a short distance east along Conduit Avenue/Sunrise Highway into Nassau County, terminating at Green Acres Mall.
The Q86 and Q87 run farther down Merrick Boulevard to Brookville Boulevard. At Brookville Boulevard, the Q86 turns south, running to Francis Lewis Boulevard and turning southeast. At Conduit Avenue–243rd Street, the Q86 then runs along 243rd Street, sharing the street with the Q85. While the Q85 terminates at 147th Avenue, the Q86 continues farther into Rosedale. The Q86 terminates at the intersection of 253rd Street and 149th Avenue. The Q87, meanwhile, continues east past Brookville Boulevard to the intersection of Merrick and Hook Creek Boulevards, where the route turns south along Hook Creek Boulevard to Conduit Avenue. It then turns east to serve Green Acres Mall.
When school is in session, several Q85 buses operate to Jamaica from three different points of origin. Three buses depart from George Washington Carver High School at 144th Avenue between 2:36 and 3:02pm; two depart from the Rosedale LIRR station at 2:34 and 2:36pm; and two depart from MS 355 CAMS and St. Francis College at 145th Avenue, heading straight on Springfield Boulevard to its regular route. In addition, one extra trip departs from Jamaica Center at 2:05pm and terminates at Huxley Street without using the turnaround in Brookville.
Former service patterns
The Q85 was originally two separate routes, the Q5A and Q5AB. The Q5A ran from Jamaica along Merrick Boulevard, turning south at Springfield Boulevard. It proceeded along Springfield Boulevard, Conduit Avenue, and 243rd Street to 147th Avenue and Huxley Street. It was known as the Jamaica-Rosedale or Jamaica-Huxley Street Line, or as the Laurelton Shuttle. By the 1970s, the Q5A was rerouted from Springfield Boulevard to Farmers Boulevard.The Q5AB, originally the second branch of the Q5A called the Higbie Avenue branch, turned south from Merrick Boulevard at Farmers Boulevard to serve the Locust Manor LIRR station and the now-closed Higbie Avenue LIRR station at modern-day 140th Avenue. The route terminated either at Higbie Avenue or Springfield Boulevard in Locust Manor, or merged with the Q5A at Springfield Boulevard before continuing to Rosedale at either 147th Avenue or 225th Street and Conduit Avenue. The route was later renamed Q5AB and rerouted to Baisley Boulevard and Bedell Street, corresponding to the current Q85 Farmers Boulevard local service.
There were also additional Q5 services. The first was known as the Q5 Laurelton Station line, the Q5B, and later the Q5A-LS or Q5AS. It operated as a north–south shuttle on 224th, 226th, and 229th Streets between the Laurelton LIRR station and 131st Avenue in the Laurelton neighborhood, one block south of the Montefiore Cemetery. It was later moved from 224th Street to 225th Street, and extended south to 147th Avenue and east to 243rd Street. The second, the Q5S, was a shuttle along Francis Lewis Boulevard between the Rosedale LIRR station at Conduit Avenue and 147th Drive at the southeast corner of Queens. Both these routes were later discontinued.
Before 2025, the full-time Q5 route turned west a short distance along Sunrise Highway, terminating at the Rosedale LIRR station at Francis Lewis Boulevard. These buses reentered service towards Jamaica via Francis Lewis Boulevard and Brookville Boulevard. This was the original Q5 route, also known as the Rosedale Station Line. Since 2025, this routing has been served by a combination of the Q86 on Brookdale Boulevard and the Q89 on Sunrise Highway.
Other routes
Merrick Boulevard is also served by the following:- The and rush routes provide additional service south of Archer Avenue, making limited stops on Merrick Boulevard and local stops elsewhere. At Linden Boulevard, the Q4 turns east towards Cambria Heights. At the intersection of Baisley Boulevard and 120th Avenue, the Q84 turns east along 120th Avenue towards Laurelton near the Montefiore Cemetery.
- The Jamaica-bound, n6/n6X, n22/n22X, n24, and select n1 and n26 buses use the one-way stretch of the boulevard from Hillside Avenue to Jamaica Avenue.
- The n4 local and the n4X express services of the Nassau Inter-County Express also run along Merrick Boulevard from Jamaica to the county line, continuing along Merrick Road to Freeport in Nassau County. These buses, however, only make pick-ups towards Freeport and drop-offs towards Jamaica within Queens.
Express bus service
History
Early history
On August 9, 1921, the Orange Bus Line began service along Merrick Road from Freeport in Nassau County to Rosedale in Queens near the county border. On September 15, 1921, the route was extended west and north to the Jamaica business district. In 1922, Republic Motor Truck Company dealer Henry B. Carter sold two truck chassis fitted with bus bodies to the operators of the Orange Line. On February 13, 1922, the Orange Line ceased operations, and the buses reverted to Carter's ownership. Carter's new Bee-Line Bus Company operated its first bus, without a franchise, on February 19, between the Rosedale station and Jamaica. This was the predecessor to the Q5. With only two buses, the route originally operated on half-hour headways. In addition to Jamaica-Rosedale service, on April 3, 1926, Bee-Line began operating service along Merrick Road between Jamaica and Freeport, Long Island, replacing the eastern portion of the Brooklyn-Freeport Line streetcar. Bee Line originally operated from 163rd Street and Jamaica Avenue in the Jamaica business district. On October 1, 1930, the Bee Line routes began terminating at the newly constructed Jamaica Union Bus Terminal near its former terminus. The new bus terminal was located at Jamaica Avenue and New York Boulevard, adjacent to the now-closed Union Hall Street Long Island Rail Road station.The Q5A services were first operated by Transit Coach Corporation in 1931. By 1937, Schenck Transportation operated the route. By 1938, the Q5A was operated by the North Shore Bus Company.
On August 11, 1936, the Bee-Line routes were moved to the newly opened 165th Street Bus Terminal. In May 1939, Bee-Line relinquished its Queens routes. These routes began operation from the terminal under North Shore Bus Company on June 25, 1939, as part of the company's takeover of nearly all routes in Zone D. The Queens-Nassau County Merrick route was retained by Bee-Line; it is now the n4 of the Nassau Inter-County Express. The northern terminus of the Q4, Q4A, Q5, and Q5A was moved once again to Hillside Avenue and 168th Street, near the 169th Street station of the IND Queens Boulevard Line, on October 27, 1939. In 1941, the Q5A Farmers Boulevard service was extended from the Higbie Avenue station on the Long Island Rail Road to Springfield Boulevard.