M14 (New York City bus)

The 14th Street Crosstown Line is a public transit line in Manhattan, New York City, running primarily along 14th Street from Chelsea or the West Village to the Lower East Side. Originally a streetcar line, it is now the M14 bus route, operated by the New York City Transit Authority. The line's two variants, the M14A SBS and M14D SBS, use Avenue A and Avenue D respectively from 14th Street south into the Lower East Side.

m14a m14d
14th Street Crosstown
M14A and M14D SBS buses traveling through Union Square in 2019.
Overview
System	MTA New York City Bus
Operator	New York City Transit Authority
Garage	Michael J. Quill Depot
Vehicle	Nova Bus LFS articulated New Flyer Xcelsior XD60 articulated New Flyer Xcelsior XE60 articulated
Livery	Select Bus Service
Began service	1899 (streetcar) 1936 (bus) 2019 (SBS)
Route
Locale	Manhattan
Start	M14A-SBS: West Side – Abingdon Square M14D-SBS: Chelsea Piers – 11th Avenue
Via	14th Street, Avenue A, Avenue D
End	M14A-SBS: Lower East Side – Grand Street M14D-SBS: Lower East Side – Delancey Street
Length	M14A-SBS EB: 3.3 miles (5.3 km)[1] M14D-SBS EB: 3.6 miles (5.8 km)[2]
Service
Operates	24 hours[3]
Annual patronage	9,118,992 (2017)[4]
Transfers	Yes
Timetable	M14A/D
Route map Chelsea Piers – 11th Avenue (18th Street)  M14D  17th Street 15th Street Washington Street Hudson Street–9th Avenue Horatio Street West Village – Abingdon Square  M14A  Bleecker Street 8th Avenue ​​​ 7th Avenue ​​ 6th Avenue ​ 5th Avenue University Place ​​​ Irving Place ​​ 3rd Avenue 2nd Avenue 1st Avenue Avenue A M14A via Avenue A and Essex Street 11th Street St. Mark's Place–9th Street 5th Street–6th Street 3rd Street Houston Street Rivington Street Delancey Street ​​​ Grand Street–Essex Street Clinton Street Pitt Street East Broadway Columbia Street Jackson Street Lower East Side – FDR Drive (Grand Street)  M14A  Cherry Street Avenue B Avenue C M14D via Avenue C and Avenue D 12th Street 10th Street / Avenue C 10th Street / Avenue D 9th Street 8th Street 5th–6th Streets 3rd–4th Streets Houston Street Baruch Drive Mangin Street Rivington Street Lower East Side – FDR Drive (Delancey Street)  M14D  Legend Two-way stop One-way stop  M14A  Terminal Subway connection PATH connection ← M12  {{{system_nav}}}  M15/M15 SBS →

Route description and service

Both M14 services share the 14th Street Crosstown corridor between 9th Avenue on the West Side and Avenue A on the Lower East Side. The "A" and "D" designations refer to the north–south streets used by each service within the Lower East Side (Avenue A and Avenue D respectively).[3][5]

West of 9th Avenue, the M14A SBS turns south along Hudson Street, terminating at Bleecker Street at Abingdon Square Park. The M14D SBS meanwhile, travels north to Chelsea Piers, serving Hudson River Park and the Chelsea Market. Until Select Bus Service was implemented, the M14A SBS followed this route on weekdays during early morning hours.[3][5] This was changed to follow the Abingdon Square at all times.[6] At the east end of the corridor, the M14A SBS turns south at Avenue A (which becomes Essex Street south of Houston Street), then east along Grand Street to the FDR Drive on the East River coastline. The M14D SBS travels along Avenue C, East 10th Street, then south along Avenue D (becoming Columbia Street) to Delancey Street at the Baruch Houses.[3][5]

During weekday rush hours, some M14 SBS buses make short turn runs, resulting in some Westbound M14 buses terminating at either Union Square or 8th Avenue, and some Eastbound M14 buses to terminate at 1st Avenue. During these runs, the A/D prefix may not be displayed on bus destination signs.[3]

The M14A/D SBS routes run parallel the BMT 14th Street subway line (L train), which runs from Eighth Avenue and continues into Brooklyn.[3][5]

Stops

Station Street traveled	Direction	Connections
M14A only
Bleecker Street Eighth Avenue	Eastbound station	NYC Bus: M20 to Lincoln Center
West 12th Street Hudson Street	Westbound terminus	NYC Bus: M11 to Riverbank State Park
West 13th Street Hudson Street	Westbound	NYC Bus: M11 to Abingdon Square, M14D SBS to Chelsea Piers
M14D only
Ninth Avenue West 14th Street	Westbound	NYC Bus: M11, M14A SBS to Abingdon Square
Tenth Avenue West 14th Street		NYC Bus: M11 to Riverbank State Park
West 15th Street Eleventh Avenue
West 17th Street Eleventh Avenue
Tenth Avenue West 18th Street	Westbound terminus; eastbound station	NYC Bus: M11 to Riverbank State Park
West 18th Street Ninth Avenue	Eastbound	NYC Bus: M11 to Abingdon Square
Hudson Street West 14th Street		NYC Bus: M11 to Abingdon Square
M14A and M14D
Eighth Avenue West 14th Street	Bidirectional	NYC Bus: M20 to Lincoln Center NYC Subway:  A  ​ C  ​ E ​  L  trains at 14th Street/Eighth Avenue
Seventh Avenue West 14th Street		NYC Bus: M20 to South Ferry NYC Subway:  1  ​ 2  ​ 3 ​  F   <F>  ​ L ​  M ​ trains at 14th Street/Sixth Avenue
Sixth Avenue West 14th Street		NYC Bus: M7 to Harlem at West 17th Street, M55 to West 44th Street/Sixth Avenue NYC Subway:  1  ​ 2  ​ 3 ​  F   <F>  ​ L ​  M ​ trains at 14th Street/Sixth Avenue PATH: HOB–33, JSQ–33, JSQ–33 (via HOB) trains at 14th Street
Fifth Avnenue West 14th Street	Westbound	NYC Bus: M1, M2, M3 to East Village, M55 to South Ferry
Union Square West/University Place East 14th Street	Bidirectional
Irving Place East 14th Street		NYC Bus: M1 to Harlem, M2 to Washington Heights, M3 to Fort George NYC Subway:  4  ​ 5  ​ 6   <6> ​  L ​  N  ​ Q  ​ R  ​ W  trains at 14th Street–Union Square
Third Avenue East 14th Street		NYC Bus: M101, M102, M103 NYC Subway:  L  train at Third Avenue
Second Avenue East 14th Street		NYC Bus: M15 local to South Ferry, M15 SBS to South Ferry
First Avenue East 14th Street		NYC Bus: M15 local to East Harlem, M15 to East Harlem NYC Subway:  L  train at First Avenue
M14A only
East 13th/14th Streets Avenue A	Bidirectional	NYC Bus: M14D SBS NYC Subway:  L  train at First Avenue
East 11th Street Avenue A		NYC Bus: M8 at East 10th Street
East 5th Street Avenue A
East Houston Street Avenue A		NYC Bus: M9, M21
Delancey Street Essex Street		NYC Bus: M9, B39 NYC Subway:  F   <F> ​​  J   M   Z ​ trains at Delancey Street/Essex Street
Grand Street Essex Street	Westbound	NYC Bus: M9
Essex Street Grand Street	Eastbound
Clinton Street Grand Street	Bidirectional
Pitt Street Grand Street
East Broadway Grand Street	Eastbound
Jackson Street Grand Street
Columbia Street Grand Street	Westbound
Madison Street Jackson Street		NYC Bus: M22
FDR Drive Grand Street	Eastbound terminus; Westbound station	NYC Bus: M22 to Battery Park City
M14D only
Avenue A East 14th Street	Bidirectional	NYC Bus: M14A SBS NYC Subway:  L  train at First Avenue
Avenue B East 14th Street	Bidirectional
Avenue C East 14th Street	Bidirectional	NYC Bus: M9
East 11th/12th Streets Avenue C	Bidirectional	NYC Bus: M8 at East 10th Street, M9
Avenue D East 10th Street	Bidirectional	NYC Bus: M8 to West Village
East 5th/6th Streets Avenue D	Bidirectional
East 4th Street Avenue D	Eastbound
East Houston Street Avenue D	Westbound	NYC Bus: M21
Columbia Street East Houston Street	Eastbound
Rivington Street Columbia Street	Westbound	NYC Bus: M21 to Soho
Mangin Street East Houston Street	Eastbound	NYC Bus: M21 to Lower East Side
555 FDR Drive FDR Drive	Eastbound	NYC Bus: M21 to Lower East Side
FDR Drive Delancey Street	Eastbound	NYC Bus: M21 to Lower East Side
Columbia Street Delancey Street	Eastbound terminus; Westbound station	NYC Bus: M21 to Soho

History

The tracks were built by several companies and pieced together by the Metropolitan Street Railway by 1899. The Bleecker Street and Fulton Ferry Railroad built the 14th Street tracks west of 9th Avenue, the Central Crosstown Railroad built from 9th Avenue to Union Square, and the Forty-Second Street and Grand Street Ferry Railroad built from Union Square to Avenue A and south on Avenue A. The Metropolitan Crosstown built a short connection at Union Square to connect the two halves, and tracks north on 11th Avenue to the West 23rd Street Ferry.

When the Williamsburg Bridge opened in 1904, 14th Street cars were rerouted to use the bridge (running east on Delancey Street from the one-way pair of Clinton Street northbound and Essex Street southbound), running as the 14th Street-Williamsburg Bridge Line until 1911. Buses were substituted for streetcars by the New York City Omnibus Corporation on April 20, 1936.

Avenue D service was added on January 28, 1951, initially running from Broadway along 14th Street, Avenue D and Columbia Street to Stanton Street, and returning on Cannon Street and Houston Street.[7]

That company changed its name to Fifth Avenue Coach Lines in 1956; the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority (MaBSTOA) subsidiary of the New York City Transit Authority took over operations in 1962.[8]

The route was once operated by the now defunct Hudson Pier Depot and was known only as the M14. When the depot was taken over by the Quill depot, it was separated into three lines, the M14A, M14C and M14D. After the 9/11 attacks, the block of 14th Street between Avenue C and Avenue D was closed to the public, forcing the M14D to run the M14C route, eventually it was decided since the route ran primarily on Avenue D the route would be renamed M14D. From 2004 to 2006, the M14C briefly returned running down Avenue C to Houston Street then turning East towards Avenue D/Columbia Street and resuming the normal route. This new route began running late and caused confusion with the M21 on Avenue C and eventually service returned to its current state as the M14A and M14D. Afterward, Avenue C was temporarily served by the M21 bus, but since 2010, it has been served by the M9 bus.

Select Bus Service

In April 2019, a Select Bus Service line was expected to run along 14th Street to provide alternate service during the original L train shutdown plan. Service was expected to operate from Ninth Avenue to Avenue C, then turn north along Avenue C to 20th Street, where there would be a ferry transfer.[9][10] This route was to be another branch supplementing the existing M14A/D designation, but the existing lines would not be converted to Select Bus Service. To facilitate bus trips on the M14 corridor, the 14th Street busway would be implemented, turning parts of 14th Street into a bus-only street during rush hours.[11] The Select Bus Service route was to be implemented by January 6, 2019, three months before the tunnel was set to shut down. It was to initially run with five stops in each direction between First Avenue/14th Street and 10th Avenue/14th Street. Local service on the M14A and M14D would be retained with minor modifications.[12] One or two weeks before the tunnel would originally close, the M14 SBS was to be extended to Stuyvesant Cove. The M14A/D local and the M14 SBS would be able to serve a combined 84,000 passengers every hour, with a bus every two minutes during rush hours. During late night hours, the M14 SBS would be replaced by the L14 SBS route to the Bedford Avenue station in Brooklyn.[13][14] Once the 14th Street Tunnel has re-opened, some version of M14 SBS service was to continue to operate.[15]

On January 4, 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the L train shutdown would be modified. An alternate plan of weekend and late-night construction would be executed instead, therefore putting the M14 SBS plan on hold.[16] New York City Transit still planned to have SBS along the corridor, and is working with the DOT on the plan. The preliminary plan was to convert both the M14A and M14D routes into SBS routes.[17] On March 6, 2019, the NYCDOT met with elected officials and revealed plans to implement Select Bus Service on both the M14A and the M14D in June 2019, with an accelerated timeline to provide an alternative to L service. The implementation of bus lanes on the branches in the Lower East Side was to be implemented later on. Bus stops on each branch would be spaced out to speed up service. The M14A's terminal loop through Abingdon Square would be implemented on a 9-month trial due to difficulty of bus operations there, as well as complaints of buses laying over in the Abingdon Square area. If the terminal is eliminated during or after the trial, service would be extended to Tenth Avenue. Bus lanes would either make use of the busway layout intended for the Tunnel shutdown or would consist of standard bus lanes.[18][19]

In April 2019, the busway was added back to the plan.[20][21][22][23] SBS was later pushed back to July 1, 2019.[24][25] However, due to a lawsuit, the busway was not implemented as scheduled,[26][27] and after another delay that August,[28][29] went into effect on October 3, 2019.[30][31] The busway was so successful on its first day that M14 buses had to be slowed down in order to keep from running ahead of their posted schedules.[32]In late 2019, the M14A/D SBS were the launch routes for the MTA's new New Flyer Xcelsior XE60 buses.

References

1. Google (May 8, 2017). "M14A-SBS" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
2. Google (May 8, 2017). "M14D-SBS" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
3. MTA Regional Bus Operations. "M14 SBS bus schedule" (PDF).
4. "Facts and Figures". mta.info. August 28, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
5. "Manhattan Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
6. "M14 SBS Bus Schedule" (PDF).
7. The New York Times, New Bus Service Sunday, January 26, 1951, page 23
8. Kenneth T. Jackson; Lisa Keller; Nancy Flood (December 1, 2010). The Encyclopedia of New York City: Second Edition. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-18257-6.
9. Rivoli, Dan (May 7, 2016). "Looming L train shutdown forces riders to consider future". NY Daily News. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
10. Nir, Sarah Maslin (April 3, 2018). "With L Train Shutdown a Year Off, Lower Manhattan Braces for Upheaval". The New York Times. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
11. "14th Street Corridor Traffic Analysis Overview" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. February 22, 2018. p. 2. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
12. "Transit & Bus Committee Meeting" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 23, 2018. pp. 201–205. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
13. "City launching M14 SBS bus ahead of L train shutdown". Metro US. July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
14. "MTA sets rollout date for L train shutdown busway". am New York. July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
15. "MTA, DOT to Launch M14 SBS Ahead of L Train Tunnel Reconstruction Project". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 23, 2018. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
16. "Cuomo Cancels Full L Train Shutdown in Favor of Part-Time Closures". Commercial Observer. January 3, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
17. "L Project Weekly #10: This week's news, that Court Sq moving walkway, Select Bus Service coming to 14th Street". us18.campaign-archive.com. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. February 16, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
18. "M14A/D Select Bus Service Elected Officials Briefing March 6, 2019". New York City Department of Transportation. March 6, 2019. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
19. "Select Bus Service Package of improvements working together to keep buses moving" (PDF). new.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
20. Berger, Paul (April 24, 2019). "New York City to Ban Private Cars From Manhattan Corridor for L Train Repairs". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
21. NBC New York (April 24, 2019). "NYC Pilot Program Will Limit Cars Along 14th Street". NBC New York. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
22. Plitt, Amy (April 24, 2019). "NYC will limit private cars on 14th Street during L train 'slowdown'". Curbed NY. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
23. "Advocates hail 14th Street plan while locals rail". am New York. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
24. "Commuter Alert: Most Of 14th Street Will Be Closed To Cars Most Of The Time Starting July 1". CBS New York. June 11, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
25. Spivack, Caroline (June 11, 2019). "Dedicated busway on 14th Street will roll out on July 1". Curbed NY. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
26. "14th Street busway supporters slam lawsuit as classist". am New York. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
27. Spivack, Caroline (June 28, 2019). "14th Street busway blocked by judge". Curbed NY. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
28. Lee, Vivian (August 10, 2019). "Ban on Most Cars on 14th Street Delayed Amid Last-Minute Appeal". Spectrum News NY1 | New York City. Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
29. Spivack, Caroline (August 9, 2019). "Judge hits brakes on 14th Street busway—again". Curbed NY. Archived from the original on August 11, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
30. "Busway plan banning most cars from 14th Street kicks off Thursday". Crain's New York Business. September 30, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
31. Plitt, Amy (September 27, 2019). "14th Street busway gets the green light from judges". Curbed NY. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
32. Berger, Paul. "Buses Cruise Through Manhattan Corridor as Traffic Change Takes Effect". WSJ. Retrieved October 5, 2019.

External links

• Media related to M14 (New York City bus) at Wikimedia Commons
• Select Bus Service − mta.info
• M14 SBS: Keeping Buses Moving on 14 St and the Lower East Side − mta.info
• 14th Street Select Bus Service with Transit & Truck Priority Pilot Project − NYCDOT