The Q79 bus route constituted a public transit line in Queens, New York City. It ran primarily along Little Neck Parkway between Little Neck station and Jamaica Avenue. Service on the route, initially known as the Q12A, began on June 4, 1950, following a request made by Queens Borough President Maurice A. FitzGerald. In 1990, the route was renumbered the Q79. In 1996, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority proposed extending the route to Floral Park, but this extension was canceled to community opposition. This route was operated by the New York City Transit brand until June 27, 2010, when it was discontinued under system-wide service cuts.
Route description and service
The Q79 began at the intersection of 40th Avenue and Little Neck Parkway near the Little Neck station on the Long Island Rail Road's (LIRR) Port Washington Branch. From there, buses continued south along Little Neck Parkway through the communities of Little Neck, Glen Oaks, and Bellerose, before turning onto Jamaica Avenue/Jericho Turnpike in Floral Park and terminating at 257th Street. Buses returning to Little Neck then turned north on 257th Street, east on 87th Avenue, and south on 256th Street before turning onto Jamaica Avenue/Jericho Turnpike. Buses then headed north on Little Neck Parkway before heading west on 41 Avenue, north on 249th Street, and east on 40th Avenue to reach the terminal. This was one of the few bus routes in the city not to connect to a subway line. This bus route was operated out of Queens Village Depot. The route had low ridership because it passed through largely suburban and low density areas; 90% of the households in the area had at least one automobile. In addition, the only traffic generators on the route were Deepdale Hospital, the United Cerebral Palsy Center and the Little Neck LIRR station.
History
Early history
Queens Borough President Maurice A. FitzGerald suggested the creation of the Little Neck to Bellerose bus route to the New York City Board of Estimate running along Little Neck Parkway. On March 7, 1950, the New York City Board of Transportation passed a resolution adopting route Q12A, which would run along the corridor. On March 9, the Board announced that a public hearing concerning the route would be held on April 4. At the public hearing, Little Neck residents argued for a change in the route's northern terminal loop, which was granted by the Board. This required the Board to hold an additional public hearing on April 27. Originally, the route would have turned off of Little Neck Parkway onto Northern Boulevard before running along Westmoreland Street to 39th Avenue at the LIRR station. The changed route had buses stay on Little Neck Parkway until Marathon Parkway, before turning on 40th Avenue, which was one block to the south of the LIRR station, and going back on Little Neck Parkway.
On April 27, the Board of Estimate approved the proposed service over the objections of civic leaders and property owners from Little Neck, who feared that the bus route would create a bottleneck, and called for the route to end at Northern Boulevard. The new route was expected to provide better transit access to employees of the Hazeltine Electronics Corporation, whose facility was at the intersection of Grand Central Parkway and Little Neck Parkway. The route was approved by the Mayor on June 2. Q12A service started on June 4, 1950, against the wishes of many Little Neck homeowners who did not want buses to run through their streets. On the first day of operation bus service could not run on its intended route at both terminals. At the Little Neck end there was a detour due to water-main work, and at the Floral Park end, local residents complained about its route along 254th Street, forcing it to change route for that day.