Bx5 (New York City bus)

The **Bx5** constitutes a public transit line in The Bronx, New York, running primarily on Story Avenue and Bruckner Boulevard, between Longwood and Pelham Bay.

## Current route

The Bx5 begins at West Farms Road and Southern Boulevard, at Simpson Street station on the IRT White Plains Road Line, and continues along Southern Boulevard until it uses East 163rd Street, Bruckner Boulevard service road, and Bronx River Avenue to access Story Avenue. It then continues on Story Avenue until it turns to White Plains Road, Lafayette Avenue, Castle Avenue, and Bruckner Boulevard again. It then continues on Bruckner Boulevard until it ends at Pelham Bay Park station.

During weekends, the bus route uses the New England Thruway and Baychester Avenue to access the terminus at Bay Plaza Shopping Center, while buses heading to Longwood uses Bay Plaza Boulevard, Co-op City Boulevard, Bartow Avenue, and New England Thruway to access Bruckner Boulevard.

Alternate weekday and all weeknight services terminate at Pugsley Avenue and Turnbull Avenue. In this case, buses use Trumbull Avenue to access the terminus, while buses heading to Longwood use Pugsley Avenue to access Lafayette Avenue.

## History

The Bx5 service began on March 26, 1928 by the New York City Department of Plant and Structures.

In April 1928, the original eastern terminus was at City Island via Pelham Parkway, Pelham Bridge Road and City Island Avenue. The western terminus was at West Farms Square-East Tremont Avenue via Eastchester Road and Tremont Avenue.

The original north-eastern terminus was at Pelham Bay Park (6, <6> ​trains). Part-time service was extended to Pelham Parkway-Seymour Avenue in November 1967, then to Pelham Parkway-Laconia Avenue (at Pelham Parkway (5 train)) in July 1974, and was later cut back to its original terminus in 1988.

The original south-western terminus was at Longwood Avenue-Prospect Avenue (at Prospect Avenue (2, 5 trains)). Service was rerouted to its current terminus in November 1967.

Service originally ran throughout Bruckner Boulevard, until Story Avenue service between Bronx River Avenue and White Plains Road was instituted in November 1967. Lafayette Avenue service between White Plains Road and Castle Hill Avenue was also instituted in April 1999.

Service originally had a split branched service (known as the Bx5A) to either Parkchester (6, <6> trains) or Metropolitan Oval-Purdy Street.

On June 21, 1965, Bx5A service was extended from Hugh Grant Circle to Purdy Street and Parker Street via Metropolitan Avenue.

Bx5A trips were split into a separate, former Bx54 service in July 1974.

Seasonal summer service to Orchard Beach was first introduced in February 1984, running all times except nights. Seasonal summer service was later reduced to a weekend-only service in September 1990, and was later discontinued on September 10, 1995, and then in Summer 2016. The last run of the summer trips was in Labor Day 2015.

Bx5 service to Pelham Bay Park (and formerly Laconia Avenue) initially ran during the daytime hours only except late afternoon, evenings and late nights. Short-turn service to White Plains Road was instituted after the Bx54's elimination in September 1990 and service to Pelham Bay Park was expanded to also run late afternoon and evenings.

Service was initially rerouted from Bruckner Boulevard to Crosby Avenue in Pelham Bay to replace the Bx8 service through the area on June 27, 2010 due to budget-related reductions. Service was rerouted back to Bruckner Boulevard in April 2012 due to congestion issues at Crosby Avenue.

Weekend trips were extended from Pelham Bay Park to Co-op City's Bay Plaza Shopping Center in September 2015.