Q38 (New York City bus)

Route

The Q38's terminals at Corona and Rego Park are less than a half mile apart, the closest together for any route in Queens. The termini are located within a block of the Long Island Expressway to the north and south respectively. Both the Eliot Avenue and the Penelope Avenue sections run one to two blocks away from the Juniper Valley Park, on opposite sides of the park. The two sections also run along the northern and southern edges of the Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery, respectively. The Q38 is based from College Point Depot, using New Flyer C40LF compressed natural gas buses dispatched from the depot. It was previously based out of LaGuardia Depot, the former Triboro Coach depot, until 2010.

Corona-bound

Going "northbound" towards Corona (or southbound towards Middle Village from Rego Park), the Q38 starts at 108th Street and 62nd Drive in Rego Park, and travels west down 62nd Drive all the way until Queens Boulevard. Then it turns left onto Queens Boulevard for block down and then turns right on 63rd Drive. Here, the route serves the 63rd Drive – Rego Park station of the IND Queens Boulevard Line and the Rego Center shopping complex. The route proceeds west along 63rd Drive past Woodhaven Boulevard, where 63rd Drive turns into Penelope Avenue, until 77th Place. Juniper Valley Park sits one block to the north at this location. The Q38 then travels in a zigzag pattern in which it turns left (south) onto 77th Place for a block, then right (west) on Furmanville Avenue, then left on 75th Place, then right on Juniper Valley Road, left on 69th Street, then right onto Metropolitan Avenue. Traveling west along Metropolitan, the route stops at the Middle Village – Metropolitan Avenue station of the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line, and the Metro Mall shopping center.

The Q38 continues west to Fresh Pond Road, where it turns north and then east onto Eliot Avenue. The Q38 continues down Eliot Avenue until Woodhaven Boulevard, then turns north a short distance on Woodhaven until Queens Boulevard. Here, the route serves the Queens Center Mall and the Woodhaven Boulevard station of the IND Queens Boulevard Line. The route continues east along 59th Avenue, then north on Junction Boulevard, east on 57th Avenue (passing LeFrak City), north on 98th Street, east on Christie Avenue, south on 99th Street, and east on 60th Avenue, before making a sharp right to its terminus at Otis Avenue and Horace Harding Expressway in Corona.

Rego Park-bound

Going towards Rego Park & Forest Hills from Corona, the Q38 originates at Otis Avenue and the Horace Harding Expressway, then makes a right on 99th Street, turns left on Christie Avenue, left on 98th Street, right on 57th Avenue, and left on Hoffman Drive to reach Woodhaven Boulevard. At Hoffman Drive and Queens Boulevard, it interchanges with the Woodhaven Boulevard station, and the Q11, Q21, Q29, Q52, Q53, Q59 and Q60 bus routes. The Q38 then turns right onto Woodhaven Boulevard, left onto Eliot Avenue to Middle Village, right onto Fresh Pond Road, left onto Metropolitan Avenue, and then reaches the Metropolitan Avenue station.

From there, it continues on Metropolitan Avenue, turns left at 69th Street, then begins the zigzag route via 69th Street, Juniper Valley Road, 75th Place, Furmanville Avenue, and 78th Street before turning east onto Penelope Avenue, which turns into 63rd Drive. At Queens Boulevard, 63rd Drive changes names again and becomes 63rd Road. The Q38 utilizes 63rd Road until 110th Street, then makes a left on 62nd Drive, terminating at 108th Street.

History

The current Q38 is a combination of several services which ran under Triboro Coach. The Penelope Avenue route was originally started by the Affiliated Bus Transit Corporation on June 17, 1934, given the designation "Q-38" by the fall of that year. The original Q38 route began in East Elmhurst near Flushing Bay, running south down 108th Street, west on 62nd Drive and Apex Place. It then followed the current Q38 route through Rego Park, Forest Hills and Middle Village via 63rd Drive, Penelope Avenue, and the "zig-zag" pattern ending at the Metropolitan Avenue station. Later in 1934, the northern terminus was moved south to Corona at the 111th Street station of the IRT Flushing Line, running south along 111th Street and short portions of Corona Avenue and Colonial Avenue. It then followed 62nd Drive, Apex Place, and the current Q38 route to the Metropolitan Avenue station. Affiliated Bus operated the route on several temporary permits, before being granted a five-year contract from the city in November 1934. The route was acquired in 1936 by Triboro Coach Corporation, as part of the company's takeover of all routes within "Zone A" (Greater Woodside) of Queens. Affiliated Bus was not compensated for the takeover, as their equipment was considered obsolete. At the time, the roads along the route were much rougher and more difficult to traverse than other parts of Queens. In addition, the route was considered unprofitable, and received spotty service via Triboro Coach's oldest buses as a result. By 1948, the Corona portion of the Q38 was eliminated, and it was truncated to its current Rego Park terminus at 108th Street.

The Eliot Avenue portion of the line was a separate Triboro Coach route. It initially operated as alternate branches of the Q45 (now the southern half Q47), which began service in 1940. Buses would run from Jackson Heights at the Victor Moore Bus Terminal to around Eliot Avenue and 80th Street, before turning south towards 69th Street at the Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery. An alternate routing turning north on Eliot towards Woodhaven Boulevard never operated. The service was referred to as the "Q45 Extension". The spurs later became a distinct route called the Q45X (short for "Q45 Extension") or the Q45 Eliot Avenue Line, running on Eliot Avenue from Woodhaven Boulevard south to 69th Street. Around 1948 the route was extended north past Queens Boulevard to Corona in modern LeFrak City, and south to 60th Place and 62nd Avenue near Metropolitan Avenue. By the 1950s, the route was renamed the Q50 (distinct from the current Q50 between Flushing and the Bronx).

On July 3, 1960, the Penelope and Eliot Avenue routes were combined into the current loop service, with the Q38 designation retained for the entire route. The Corona end of the route was later extended east to its current terminus at Otis Avenue.

On February 2, 2006, Triboro Coach ceased operations and the Q38, as well as all other routes operating under Triboro Coach, were picked-up by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Fare structures remained the same for all newly acquired services. The former Triboro Coach depot in East Elmhurst became the LaGuardia Depot under MTA Bus. The Q38 remained at LaGuardia Depot until January 2010, when it was based out of College Point Depot. The fleet changed, as the RTS and Orion VII Hybrid buses that made up the line would be replaced by Orion V CNG buses. However, the Q38 did use CNG buses before, as Triboro Coach did use CNG buses, and used CNG buses until after takeover. In April 2006, an explosion at LaGuardia Depot which left several buses totaled or damaged force the MTA to take the CNG fueling station. From that point on, all LaGuardia Depot routes operated with Diesel or Hybrid buses. The Q38 is still out of College Point, and uses CNG equipment up to this date.