The Q3 bus route constitutes a public transit line in Queens, New York City, operating via Farmers Boulevard between the 165th Street Bus Terminal in Jamaica and John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Route description and service
The JFK Airport-bound Q3 starts from Bay 5 at the 165th Street Bus Terminal in Jamaica, Queens. It then goes via Hillside Avenue, until it turns south onto Farmers Boulevard via 187th Place. The route continues through the neighborhoods of Hollis, stopping at the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) station there. It then passes through St. Albans, before stopping at the LIRR station at Locust Manor. Then it continues, passing through Springfield Gardens before finally crossing Rockaway Boulevard, and then entering John F. Kennedy International Airport via North Boundary Road, 148th Street, and JFK Expressway, passing by the North Cargo Area and Central Terminal Area. After stopping at Terminal 8, the route travels west and north along the Van Wyck Expressway and its service road. The Q3 travels west around Federal Circle, then north along 130th Place, west along Pan Am Road, and north at Lefferts Boulevard. The Q3 terminates at the AirTrain JFK's Lefferts Boulevard station.
Jamaica-bound buses from Lefferts Boulevard largely follow the reverse routing. Buses travel south at Lefferts Boulevard, east along Pan Am Road, south along 130th Place, and south and east along the Van Wyck Expressway and its service road. After stopping at Terminal 8, the route turns along JFK Expressway, 148th Street, and North Boundary Road. Leaving the airport, the Jamaica-bound Q3 runs along Farmers Boulevard, then turns north on 188th Street and west on Hillside Avenue, terminating at Bay 5 of the 165th Street Bus Terminal.
A majority of the ridership of the Q3 is formed from airport employees from JFK. Upon the route's extension to JFK Airport, more riders began to use the Q3, there were increased employment opportunities in Queens, airport hires were encouraged to move to Queens, and road congestion was relieved.
History
Early history
The Saint Albans Improvement Association obtained a permit to operate a bus line between St. Albans and Jamaica, Queens, around 1920. The association hired Mortimer Randel to operate the line. The route was put under the supervision of the New York City Department of Plant & Structures, which established the Saint Albans–Hollis–Jamaica line in March 1922. The route ran from Saint Marks Avenue (now 119th Avenue), via Farmers Avenue, Seminole Avenue and Villard Avenue (both now 190th Street), and Hillside Avenue to Union Hall Street. Because the majority of the route ran via Farmers Boulevard, it was known as the Farmers Boulevard Line.
The Hillside Avenue-Farmers Blvd bus was transferred to Bee Line Bus Incorporated in 1923 and was labeled the Q3. The Q3 route originated from 163rd Street and Jamaica Avenue in the Jamaica business district; the route then ran along 165th Street, Hillside Avenue, 187th Place, and Farmers Avenue, terminating at the intersection of Farmers Avenue and Merrick Road. 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 (now Guy R. Brewer Boulevard), adjacent to the now-closed Union Hall Street Long Island Rail Road station.
On August 11, 1936, the Bee-Line routes were moved to the newly opened 165th Street Bus Terminal (then the Long Island Bus Terminal). In May 1939, Bee-Line relinquished its Queens routes. The bus was assumed by the North Shore Bus Company on May 22, 1939. 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 (Jamaica and Southeast Queens). The route was extended to Rockaway Boulevard on July 1, 1939. The route was cut back to the 165th Street Bus Terminal from 163rd Street and Jamaica Avenue on October 27, 1939.
NYCBOT and NYCTA operation
On March 30, 1947, North Shore Bus would be taken over by the New York City Board of Transportation (NYCBOT; later the New York City Transit Authority or NYCTA), making the bus route city operated.