Triboro Coach

A former Triboro Coach bus under MTA operations on theQ19 route, the company's original service.
Parent	GTJ Reit Incorporated
Founded	1931
Defunct	2006
Headquarters	85-01 24th Avenue East Elmhurst, NY 11370-1694

Triboro Coach Corporation was abus company inNew York City,United States, operating local service inQueens and express routes toManhattan until February 20, 2006, whenMTA Bus took over all of its bus operations and services.

Salvatore Fornatora began operating buses in Queens in April 1919 as theWoodside-Astoria Transportation Company,^[1] with his first route, the eastern part of today'sQ19 route connecting the103rd Street-Corona Plaza station on the recently openedCorona Line inCorona withFlushing. In 1928, the Corona terminal was extended westward, and moved toAstoria - 21st Street, completing the original formation of today's Q19Astoria Boulevard bus route, when the Corona Line was extended to Flushing. The company was operating several other routes in the Astoria-Woodside-Maspeth area by 1930.

The new Triboro Coach Corporation was incorporated on April 10, 1931,^[1] running theQ18 andQ24 routes. On September 24, 1936, it acquired a city franchise for nine routes in northwestern Queens (the "Long Island City zone").^[1][2] Triboro acquired theQ23 from theNorth Shore Bus Company, theQ29 fromKings Coach Company, theQ33 fromMunicipal Motor Bus Company, theQ38 fromAffiliated Bus Transit Corporation, and theQ39 fromNational City Lines.^[3] AfterWorld War II during October 1947, Triboro was acquired by the stockholders ofGreen Bus Lines, after financial difficulties, but continued to operate independently.^[1] Its depot in East Elmhurst was opened on January 15, 1954.^[4] Major expansions were made in 1956 with an express bus route (now theQ53) between Woodside andRockaway Park (replacing theLong Island Rail Road'sRockaway Beach Branch, out of service since 1950) and in 1961, when it acquired theQ72 (then the B72) from theNew York City Transit Authority. Five express routes to Manhattan were initiated in the 1970s and 1980s: the QM10 & QM11 in 1970, QM12 in 1971, and QM22, QM24, and QM24W in June 1988. Triboro was the first private company in the city to initiate express operations with the Q53 Woodside-Rockaway Park Express bus line in 1956, at the request of the City of New York due to the loss of direct LIRR Rockaway service from Woodside.^{[1][5][6][7][8]}

In addition to diesel powered buses, Triboro housed aMethanol, andcompressed natural gas (CNG) fueling facility, along with several CNG powered buses at its final facility in East Elmhurst. Themethanol fuel station was installed in 1989 for sixGeneral Motors-built methanol buses.^[9] In the early 1990s, three Triboro-operatedRTS buses were fitted with specialDetroit DieselSeries 92 engines that ran on methanol provided byAir Products & Chemicals.^[10] CNG fueling was installed in 1994 to be used for orders of TMC RTS-06 CNG buses and later Orion V CNG buses that were ordered in conjunction with identical buses used byCommand Bus Company andQueens Surface Corporation (now Spring Creek Depot and College Point Depot respectively).^[11]

On February 20, 2006, the operations of Triboro Coach were taken over by theMetropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) under theMTA Bus Company brand, the final part of the city's takeover of all the remaining subsidized privately operated bus routes.^[1][12][13] As part of the takeover, the former Triboro Coach garage became the LaGuardia Depot.^[12] However, the facility was severely damaged in April 2006 (only 2 months after the MTA Takeover) following an explosion within one of the natural gas lines and destroyed a former Triboro/ ex-Jamaica BusRTS-04 (see below).^[14] All of the ex-Triboro CNG buses were transferred to Spring Creek and College Point Depots and ran from there up until their retirement.

Just prior to MTA Bus takeover, Triboro Coach operated the following routes. Most of these continue to be based out of the company's former facility in East Elmhurst.^[15]

Triboro also operated theQ57 express bus fromQueensbridge at 21st Street and 41st Avenue toLaGuardia Airport in 1990. Nicknamed the "QT (Quick Trip) LaGuardia Express" bus route, it was discontinued in May 1991 due to lower than expected ridership. The service ran every 20 minutes, getting to the airport in 25 minutes, and stopping at all terminals. The route travelled via 21st Street and Astoria Boulevard to get to the airport. Service ran from 21st Street between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. and from LaGuardia between 6:35 a.m. and 11 p.m.. The fare was $5, in addition to the $1.15 subway fare. The buses had luggage racks, air conditioning and padded seats.^[20]

The company's first garage was located at 29-28 Vernon Boulevard^[21] or 23-29/29-23 Vernon Boulevard,^[22][23] at Vernon Boulevard and Main Avenue (Astoria Boulevard) inAstoria, Queens, on the eastern shore of theEast River near the western terminal of the company'sQ19 route.^[24][25] The one-story brick building covered 12,000 square feet (1,100 m²),^[24] and served as the company's main repair shops.^[23]

On July 19, 1926, an explosion and fire occurred in the garage's basement, leading to the death of a teenage employee.^[26] The facility was condemned by the city in the 1940s to construct theAstoria Houses public housing project, which remains there today.^[23]

40°46′20″N73°56′00″W / 40.772140°N 73.933223°W /40.772140; -73.933223

Triboro Coach simultaneously operated two garages inWoodside, Queens, in addition to its Astoria depot.^[25] The first was located at the southwest corner ofQueens Boulevard and 51st Street, south of the52nd Street subway station and adjacent to theNew Calvary Cemetery. It was leased in 1939.^[25][27][28] The second was located at 69-01 35th Road^[4] or 65-10 35th Avenue,^[22][29] on a block bound by 65th Street to the west, 35th Avenue to the north, 69th Street to the east, and 35th Road to the south. It was located just north of the65th Street subway station onBroadway.^{[4][23][25][29]} This 27,000 square feet (2,500 m²) depot was leased in 1941.^[29] Both Woodside depots were condemned by the city in 1947. The second site at 65th Street was condemned for the construction of theBrooklyn–Queens Expressway (BQE).^[23][30] It closed in 1954, following eviction proceedings, replaced by the East Elmhurst location.^[4] The right-of-way of the BQE occupies the site today.

40°45′01″N73°53′51″W / 40.750330°N 73.897603°W /40.750330; -73.897603

Triboro Coach's final depot was located on a two-block long structure (85-01 24th Avenue)^[4] bound by 85th and 87th Street, and 23rd and 24th Avenues in theEast Elmhurst &Jackson Heights neighborhoods ofQueens,New York nearLaGuardia Airport.^[31] The depot was opened on January 15, 1954,^[4] at the cost of $1 million.^[4][32] The 80,000 square feet (7,400 m²) garage housed 130 buses, with additional space outdoors.^[4][32][33] The depot became MTA Bus'LaGuardia Depot on February 20, 2006.^[12]

In 1989, amethanol fuel station was installed at the facility for sixGeneral Motors-builtRTS methanol buses.^[9][34][35] It was later used in the early 1990s to fuel aNew York City Transit Authority demonstration bus from the Casey Stengel Depot^[36] and three new Triboro-operated RTS buses fitted with specialDetroit DieselSeries 92 engines.^[10] Beginning in 1994, the facility dispatched compressed natural gas (CNG) buses in addition to its diesel fleet.^[11][33][37] Under the MTA, the depot was decommissioned from CNG operations in 2006 due to not meeting the MTA's safety and environmental standards. On April 10, 2006, while workers fromKeySpan were removing CNG from tanks and a private contractor was conducting construction near the depot, a gas compressor station exploded leading to a large fire at the depot. One bus was destroyed and 12 were damaged.^{[12][14][38][39]}

40°45′58″N73°53′01″W / 40.766176°N 73.883474°W /40.766176; -73.883474

• Triboro Coach Corporation (accessed January 19, 2007; Revived November 4, 2013)
• NYCDOT - Privately Operated Bus Service (as of early-to-mid 2000s, accessed January 19, 2007)

• Triboro Coach Bus Photos (Bus:NYCSubway.org)
• Triboro Coach Corporation (via theInternet Archive)
• Triboro Coach Bus Routes
• Triboro Coach and other Bus Routes

• Bus transportation in New York City
• Defunct public transport operators in the United States
• American companies established in 1931
• Transport companies established in 1931
• 1931 establishments in New York City
• 2006 disestablishments in New York City
• American companies disestablished in 2006
• Transport companies disestablished in 2006

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