The Q88 constitutes a bus route in Queens, New York, running primarily on Horace Harding Expressway, 188th Street, 73rd Avenue, and Springfield Boulevard, between Elmhurst and Queens Village. It is operated by New York City Transit under the MTA Regional Bus Operations brand, and is based at the Queens Village Depot.
Route description[]
The Q88 begins at 92nd Street and 59th Avenue, near the Woodhaven Boulevard station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line and Queens Center Mall. It then turns to 59th Avenue and Junction Boulevard to access Horace Harding Expresssway, while buses heading to the westbound terminus use 94th Street, 57th Avenue, and 92nd Street. It then continues on Horace Harding Expressway for most of its length until it turns to 188th Street, 73rd Avenue, and then Springfield Boulevard, for which it goes on until it ends at Queens Village LIRR station.
History[]
On January 25, 1974, the New York City Board of Estimate approved the route, given that the NYCTA provide annual ridership, loss, and profit data to the city's Franchise Bureau. At the time, it was expected that free transfers would be provided to the Q17, Q17A, Q31, and Q44 bus routes. While Queens Borough President Donald Manes had been assured that bus service would begin in two to three months, the NYCTA's general manager refused to begin service as the city demanded some financial records it did not want to release. The NYCTA had held that its bus operations were only subject to review by the city controller's office, and had fought against efforts by the Franchise Bureau to provide oversight. While the Franchise Bureau previously had no clear authority to mandate that the NYCTA provide financial data, the resolution approving the Q88 route required the NYCTA to provide relevant data after one year of operation. A NYCTA spokesperson, in June 1974, said that it was up to the Franchise Bureau to get an opinion from the corporation counsel to resolve the issue. In August 1974, the city was about to take away NYCTA's authorization for the route and instead award it to Triboro Coach on an experimental basis until August 31, 1975. The Board of Estimate approved the route after the NYCTA agreed to informally provide the data for the new route without having to allow the city to audit its records.
The Q88 bus service started on September 16, 1974, after the New York City Board of Estimate approved a franchise for the route on September 12. The route's original eastern terminal was Springfield Boulevard and Union Turnpike. Bus service initially ran daily except Sundays between 6:30 a.m. and 11 p.m. It ran every ten minutes during rush hours, and every twenty minutes at other times.
In November 1974, the NYCTA studied extending the route to serve Queensborough Community College to address the lack of student parking. In December 1974, a free transfer was instituted between the Q88 and the Q17A. The Board of Estimate had approved the Q88 route in January 1974 on the condition that this free transfer be provided.
In January 1979, it was announced that Q88 service would be extended from Union Turnpike to Hillside Avenue, with those buses heading along Springfield Boulevard to Jamaica Avenue on the way to Queens Village Bus Depot, running in service, making stops along Springfield Boulevard, instead of deadheading. Free transfers would also be provided to the Q1 and Q27 for riders continuing south along Springfield Boulevard. The NYCTA decided against extending all Q88 trips to Jamaica Avenue due to a lack of buses. The changes took effec on March 4, 1979.
In September 1983, bus service was increased due to increased ridership and the proliferation of gypsy cabs along the route. One additional buses was added to the route to make short-run trips between Queens Boulevard and Queens College.The route was later extended to Jamaica Avenue between 1985 and 1989.
In December 2019, the MTA released a draft redesign of the Queens bus network. As part of the redesign, the Q84 bus would have been replaced by the QT12, a "intra-borough" route running between Elmhurst and Bayside, the QT33, a "subway connector" route running between Jamaica and Bayside, with limited stops between Jamaica and Hillside Avenue/188th Street; local service was expected to be provided by QT18, and also it largely followed the Q75, which was discontinued in 2010, and the QT87, a "neighborhood" route running between Glendale and Little Neck. The redesign was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City in 2020, and the original draft plan was dropped due to negative feedback. A revised plan was released in March 2022. As part of the new plan, the Q88 will be rerouted and extended along Horace Harding Expressway to Little Neck, replacing the discontinued Q30 bus.
