M21 (New York City bus)

The M21 bus route constitutes a public transit line in Manhattan, New York City. The M21 operates between the West Village and the Lower East Side, serving as a Houston Street crosstown.

m21
Houston Street Crosstown
An OBI Orion VII OG HEV 07.501 operating on the M21.
Overview
System	MTA Regional Bus Operations
Operator	New York City Transit
Garage	Quill Depot
Vehicle	OBI Orion VII OG HEV 07.501, OBI Orion VII NG HEV 07.501, New Flyer Xcelsior XD40
Route
Locale	Lower Manhattan
Communities served	West Village, SoHo, Lower East Side
Start	West Village – Spring St at Hudson St
Via	Houston St
End	Lower East Side – Grand St at FDR Dr
Service
Operates	24 hours
Transfers	Yes
Route map ← M20  {{{system_nav}}}  M22 →

Current route

The M21 bus route begins at Spring St at Hudson St in the West Village. Eastbound buses use Sixth Avenue to access Houston Street, whereas westbound buses use King Street and Washington Street to access the terminus. The M21 stays on Houston Street until Columbia Street. Eastbound buses continue to FDR Drive, and use the service road to access Grand St, where they terminate. Westbound buses then use Lewis St, Delancey St, and Columbia St to access Houston St, where they head back to the West Side. [1][2]

History

Early history

The M21 was originally the New York City Department of Plant and Structures bus route M10 – later became NYCO's 21. This route replaced New York Railways' Avenue C Line streetcar on September 21, 1919.

Recent history

Due to the 2010 budget crisis, the M21's weekend service discontinued on June 27, 2010, in conjunction with an extension to its current terminus at Grand St and FDR Dr.[3] Weekend service was restored on January 6, 2013.[4]

Equipment

The M21 operates out of Michael J. Quill Depot, using OBI Orion VII OG HEV 07.501, OBI Orion VII NG HEV 07.501, and New Flyer XD40 Xcelsior buses.[5][6] Prior to 2019, the route operated Nova Bus RTS-06 buses, but these were replaced by the New Flyer XD40 Xcelsiors.[7][8]

References

1. MTA Regional Bus Operations. "M21 bus schedule" (PDF).
2. "MTA Bus Time". bt.mta.info. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
3. "WebCite query result" (PDF). www.webcitation.org. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
4. "Weekend service restored on Houston St". web.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. January 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
5. "Michael J. Quill Bus Depot (MaBSTOA) - MTA New York City Bus Roster". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
6. "New York MTA (Bus – Depot Roster) – The Insider's Guide". Retrieved 2020-09-28.
7. "Metropolitan Transportation Authority 5105-5249 - CPTDB Wiki". cptdb.ca. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
8. "Metropolitan Transportation Authority retired bus fleet - CPTDB Wiki". cptdb.ca. Retrieved 2020-09-28.