m34, m34a
34th Street Crosstown Line
A 2017 Nova Bus LFS Articulated (5465) on the Waterside Plaza-bound M34A on 34th St between 5th & 6th Aves in Mid-2018.
Overview
System	MTA Regional Bus Operations
Operator	Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority
Garage	Michael J. Quill Depot
Vehicle	Nova BusLFSarticulated New FlyerXcelsior XD60 New FlyerXcelsior XE60 (main vehicles) New Flyer Xcelsior XD40 New Flyer Xcelsior XE40 Nova Bus LFS HEV (supplemental service)
Livery	Select Bus Service
Route
Locale	Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Communities served	Hudson Yards,Hell's Kitchen,Midtown,Murray Hill,Kips Bay,Waterside Plaza
Start	M34: 34th Street and 12th Avenue M34A: 43rd Street and 8th Avenue
Via	34th Street
End	M34: FDR Drive and 35th Street M34A: Waterside Plaza
Length	M34: 2 miles (3.2 km) M34A: 2.5 miles (4.0 km)
Service
Operates	5 a.m. (weekdays) or 6:30 a.m. (weekends) to 12:30 a.m.[1]
Ridership	3,145,211 (2024)[2]
Transfers	Yes
Timetable	M34/M34A SBS
Route map Legend  M34  Javits Center – 12th Avenue 11th Avenue Port Authority Bus Terminal ( 43rd Street )  M34A  ​​ ​Hudson Boulevard 42nd Street 10th Avenue 40th Street Dyre Avenue 37th Street 9th Avenue ​​8th Avenue ​​7th Avenue 6th Avenue ​​​​​​​ 5th Avenue Park Avenue​ 3rd Avenue 2nd Avenue 23rd Street /2nd Avenue 28th Street /2nd Avenue 23rd Street /1st Avenue 1st Avene 23rd Street /Avenue C Waterside Plaza  M34  M34A  East Side –FDR Drive (Ferry Terminal)  M34  Legend two-way stop one-way stop terminal Select M34     M34  Select ( alternate trips ) subway connection PATH connection This diagram: view talk edit ← M31 ←M23 SBS (by borough) ←M23 SBS (by route number)  {{{system_nav}}}  M35 → Bx41 SBS → M60 SBS →

The34th Street Crosstown Line is asurface transit line on34th Street inManhattan,New York City,United States. It currently hosts theM34/M34A SBS routes ofMTA'sRegional Bus Operations. The M34 runs from12th Avenue toFDR Drive via 34th Street, while the M34A runs fromPort Authority Bus Terminal toWaterside Plaza.

For most of its length, the M34 uses 34th Street to travel crosstown. There is a one-block stretch of the westbound route, between11th and 12th Avenues, that runs along 33rd Street; this is because the M34 needs to terminate along the northboundWest Side Highway.^[1][3] At its eastern end, the M34 turns north onto the service road underFDR Drive to terminate at theEast 34th Street Ferry Landing, which requires the M34 to make a U-turn at 35th Street and down southbound FDR Drive for one block.^[1][3]

The M34A uses a different route than the M34 at its western and eastern ends. It travels alongEighth Avenue northbound andNinth Avenue southbound between 34th Street and 43rd Street (using 43rd Street to terminate westbound), thereby serving thePort Authority Bus Terminal.^[1][3] It also usesSecond Avenue southbound and the FDR Drive service road northbound between23rd Street and 34th Street in order to serve itsWaterside Plaza terminus as well asPeter Cooper Village. The eastbound segment of the M34A between Second Avenue and FDR Drive uses 23rd Street.^[1][3]

TheThirty-Fourth Street Crosstown Railway was chartered on March 18, 1896, being a consolidation of the Thirty-Fourth Street Railroad Company and the Thirty-Fourth Street Ferry & Eleventh Avenue Railroad. The stock of the company was owned by the Metropolitan Street Railway. The streetcar line was previously a horsecar line, and in July 1900 the line began running via storage batteries, but in September 1903 it was changed to using an underground third rail.^[4]

New York City Omnibus Corporation bus route (M19 - 16) replacedNew York Railways' 34th Street Crosstown Line streetcar on April 1, 1936.^[5][6][7]

On July 14, 1965, the directors of the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority passed a resolution approving the extension of the route from the terminal of the route at First Avenue and East 34th Street to First Avenue and East 27th Street to serve Bellevue Hospital during late evenings. Buses would run via 34th Street, FDR Drive Service Road, East 25th Street, and First Avenue.^[8][9]

In January 1970, theUnited States Department of Transportation initiated the Urban Corridor Demonstration Program to testtransportation demand management strategies to reduce traffic congestion on radial corridors in large urban areas. Grants were awarded to eleven metropolitan areas to conduct detailed planning for projects in July 1970, and projects in eight of them, including New York, were selected. The New York program would consist of eight projects, including traffic system management ofNew Jersey Route 3, a study of automatic vehicle identification, joint-usepark and ride facilities, acontraflow bus lane along Interstate 495, and the rerouting of portions of two crosstown bus routes in midtown Manhattan with low ridership to better connect high-density job areas with the Port Authority Bus Terminal by eliminating transfers.^{[10][11]: 7, 14 [12]: 14} The first of the two bus reroutings was the rerouting of half of M3 49th/50th Street crosstown buses to the bus terminal in October 1971. The second was the rerouting on June 26, 1972, of some westbound M16 buses from 10th Avenue to 8th Avenue to improve access to the Port Authority Bus Terminal from the east side of Manhattan afternoon.^[13]

This new branch of the M16 would run on weekdays between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.. Eastbound buses would start at 12th Avenue and 42nd Street, head east on 42nd Street, south on Ninth Avenue, and east on 34th Street to First Avenue. Buses would return in westbound service, running north on First Avenue, west on 37th Street, south on Second Avenue, west on 34th Street, north on Eighth Avenue, west on 43rd Street, and south on 12th Avenue to the terminal at 42nd Street.^[14][15] By 1975, the reroute of the M16 branch and the addition of two bus trips increased operating costs, though the tripling of ridership on the Eighth Avenue segment of the route, increasing by 1,300, outweighing the increased costs.^{[11]: 15 [12]: 15}

In 1974, buses were extended to serve the newWaterside Plaza housing development.^[16] On April 1, 1986, with the opening of theJacob K. Javits Center at 34th Street and 11th Avenue, the branch to 12th Avenue and 34th Street was renamed the M34.^[17] The change had been approved by the New York City Transit Authority Committee of the MTA Board on February 19, 1986.^[18]

In April 2001, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced a planned reroute of the M34 to serve the 34th Street Ferry Terminal. Buses, at the time, eastbound buses had traveled north via First Avenue and turned east onto East 36th Street, where the route terminated, and westbound buses headed east along East 36th Street, south via FDR Drive West Service Road, and west along East 34th Street. To serve the ferry terminal, eastbound service would run east along East 34th Street, over the FDR Drive Service Roads, and turn north into the bus staging area at the pier, and westbound service would leave from the northern end of the terminal area at East 35th Street, turn south on the FDR Drive West Service Road and head west on East 34th Street. The change was to be implemented in April 2001.^[19]

In 2010, it was one of seven local bus routes in Manhattan to participate in aPayPasssmart card program. This program was apilot program meant to find a suitable smart card technology to replace theMetroCard.^[20][21]

In August 2010, a program was implemented along the M16 and M34 routes, in which riders could track arriving buses. This later becameMTA Bus Time.^[22]

Two 2008 Orion VII NG HEVs: 3817 on the FDR Drive-bound M34 (top) and 3802 on the former Waterside-bound M16 (bottom), prior to SBS implementation.

TheM34 SBS andM34A SBS routes began on November 13, 2011.^[23] Like other Select Bus Service corridors, off-board fare payment is used, as well as all-door boarding.^[24] These are considered by the MTA as two SBS services, theM34 34th Street Crosstown and the formerM16 route, which was renamed the M34A; the routes share a single corridor.^[25][23] The stops are listed below from west to east. Red-painted bus lanes were installed on 34th Street between First Avenue and Eleventh Avenue.^[26] The stops at Madison Avenue and Lexington Avenue were eliminated, the westbound stop at Tenth Avenue was moved to Dyer Avenue, and a stop at West 43rd Street near Ninth Avenue was moved consolidated with a stop at 42nd Street near that avenue. A part-time stop at West 38th Street and Ninth Avenue was moved to West 39th Street.^[27][28]

On April 8, 2012, as part of a pilot program that expanded on the 2010 pilot, MTA Bus Time was phased into this route.^[29] In April 2012, weekend service on the route was increased.^[30]

Starting in early 2013, bus bulbs were installed at twelve locations along 34th Street, allowing buses to stay in the bus lane while stopping.^[26] In November 2015, the section between Lexington Avenue and Seventh Avenue was completed with the installation of four new bus bulbs, resurfaced streets, new parking spaces, and newly painted bus lanes. The portion between 12th Avenue and Lexington Avenue included the construction of eight bus bulbs at bus stops and one curb extension. The remaining segment, between Lexington Avenue and the FDR Drive Service Road is expected to be completed by December 2016. The remaining portion would install three bus bulbs at bus stops and would build two curb extensions.^[31] The entire cost of the project is $27 million. In its first year of operation, there has been 23 percent time savings. Since 2011, there has been 12 percent ridership growth on the route, while overall, bus ridership has been decreasing in Manhattan.^[32][33] Alternate trips on the M34 to and from Waterside Plaza were added on September 3, 2017.^[34]

• Media related to34th Street Crosstown Line at Wikimedia Commons

• MTA Regional Bus routes
• Bus routes in Manhattan
• Select Bus Service

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