Bx55 (New York City bus)

The **Bx55** constituted a bus route in the Bronx, New York, running between The Hub and Williamsbridge, primarily on Third Avenue and Webster Avenue.

The Bx55 replaced the Bronx portion of the Third Avenue Elevated Line on April 29, 1973, stopping only at its former stations, and allowing free transfers to intersecting subway lines. Over the years, it had changes to its route and service. On June 28, 2013, all Bx55 service was discontinued when the Bx41 Limited was converted to Select Bus Service. It was replaced with said bus route north of Fordham Plaza along Webster Avenue, and the new Bx15 limited-stop service on July 1, which operated at all times except late nights and weekends. Service along 125th Street was replaced by Bx15 limited service, and by Bx15 local service when limited service did not run.

## Route description and service

The Bx55 began at East 149th Street and Third Avenue, at the Third Avenue–149th Street station on the IRT White Plains Road Line and the former site of the 149th Street station on the IRT Third Avenue Elevated. Buses then continued on Third Avenue for most of its length until it turned to East Fordham Road and then Webster Avenue. It then continued on Webster Avenue until it turned to Gun Hill Road, and continues on that street as well until it ended at the Gun Hill Road station on the IRT White Plains Road Line.

The Bx55 ran only weekdays only, as was a limited-stop route. Service was extended to the Gun Hill Road station during part times.

## History

On April 29, 1973, service on the IRT Third Avenue Line (by that time truncated to the Bronx) was eliminated and replaced by the Bx55 limited bus service, which provided free transfers to the subway at Third Avenue–149th Street and 161st Street–Yankee Stadium, and stopping only at its former stations. On February 19, 1984, the Bronx bus system was redesigned, and southbound Bx55 service was rerouted off of Washington Avenue between 189th Street and 163rd Street and onto Third Avenue.

The Bx55 service was one of the few routes in the city to allow free transfers to the subway prior to the introduction of the MetroCard in 1993, and one of the first routes to use the MetroCard. Paper tickets were used prior to the use of MetroCard for free transfers at Third Avenue–149th Street.

In June 1995, service along the Bx55 branch to Yankee Stadium via East 161st Street, stopping only at Washington Avenue and River Avenue, was discontinued to improve service for riders and reliability. While only 5% of riders used this branch, it received 21% of service on weekdays and 25% of service on weekends. Bx6 service was increased to mitigate the need to transfer to get to Yankee Stadium. In addition, free transfers were allowed between the Bx55 and intersecting bus routes, changing the route from a rapid transit replacement to a limited-stop branch of the Bx15. In 1995, New York City Transit was in the process of building a weather-protected intermodal terminal at Third Avenue–149th Street.On September 10, 1995, as part of systemwide cuts in bus and subway service to reduce the MTA's budget deficit, late night Bx55 service north of Fordham Plaza was discontinued.

On September 8, 1996, late night Bx55 service, between 1 a.m. and 4:30 a.m., was eliminated and merged with the Bx15. The frequency of Bx15 service along the entire route was reduced from running every 50 minutes to running every 60 minutes. Supplemental Bx15 service was provided between Fordham Road and 149th Street to maintain the Bx55's frequency. To maintain the transfer to the subway, bus-subway transfers were accepted on the Bx15 overnight. The change was made to eliminate duplicative service, which was lightly patronized. In addition, an unnecessary turn at 147th Street was eliminated; it had existed because a support pillar of the Third Avenue Elevated, which had been demolished for some time, had prevented northbound buses from turning directly from Willis Avenue to Third Avenue.

In June 2002, as part of an outside study, the Third Avenue corridor was identified for the implementation of bus rapid transit service, due to heavy ridership and slow travel speeds on the corridor. In February 2004, selected weekday and all weekend Bx55 trips terminated at Fordham Plaza. On June 27, 2010, evening and weekend Bx55 service was eliminated.

In 2009, as part of Phase II of the MTA and New York City Department of Transportation (DOT)'s Select Bus Service (SBS), both the Third Avenue and Webster Avenue bus corridors were studied for the implementation of a north-to-south bus rapid transit service through the South Bronx. The Bx41 Limited along Webster Avenue was selected for conversion to SBS since that corridor was wider, and became the Bx41 SBS on June 30, 2013. On the same day, the Bx55 was discontinued and, on July 1, it was replaced by new Bx15 limited-stop service, which operated at all times except late nights and weekends. Service along 125th Street was replaced by Bx15 limited service, and by Bx15 local service when limited service did not run. Service north of Fordham Plaza along Webster Avenue was replaced by the Bx41 Local and SBS.