Fifth and Sixth Avenues Line

This article is about the surface (bus, formerly streetcar) line. For the rapid transit line along Broadway and Seventh Avenue, see IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line.

M5
Fifth / Sixth Avenues / Riverside Drive Line
Overview
System	MTA New York City Bus
Operator	New York City Transit Authority
Garage	Manhattanville
Vehicle	Nova Bus RTS-06 Daimler Chrysler Orion VII
Began service	1864 (train) 1893 (streetcar) 1936 (bus) 2010 (current alignment)
Route
Locale	Manhattan
Start	South Ferry
End	Washington Heights – GWB Bus Station
Service
Operates	4:50 AM – 1:20 AM
Fare	$2.75 (MetroCard or coins)
Cash	Coins only (exact change required)
Transfers	Yes (within 2 hours)
Timetable	M5
Route map ← M4 M7 →

The M5 is a local public transit bus route in Manhattan, New York City, United States, running along the Fifth / Sixth Avenues / Riverside Drive Line as well as a portion of the Broadway Line after the discontinuation of the M6. It primarily runs along Broadway, Fifth and Sixth Avenues, and Riverside Drive from Lower Manhattan to Washington Heights. The portion along Broadway south of East 8th Street was originally a streetcar line.

Route description

Broadway Line

The Broadway line began at Columbus Circle. It runs east along Central Park South one block, and turned right onto Seventh Avenue. It followed Seventh to Times Square, and bore left on Broadway. It followed Broadway to Madison Square, and bore left onto Fifth Avenue. It ran on Fifth along with the Fifth/Madison Avenue Line to 8th Street. Both lines turned left onto East 8th Street (also known as St. Marks Place) east towards Broadway. At Broadway, the Broadway line turned right and terminated at the South Ferry; the Fifth/Madison Avenue Line continued to Fourth Avenue and terminated at Astor Place and Fourth Avenue.

Current alignment

The current M5 follows a similar route, except it does not run on Broadway north of St. Marks Place after the pedestrian plazas were implemented. The current M5 route begins at the South Ferry and runs uptown on Church Street and Sixth Avenue. The downtown routing is along Fifth Avenue to St. Marks Place (East 8th Street), where the route cuts over to Broadway and terminates at the South Ferry. Fifth and Sixth Avenues, the M5 runs crosstown along Central Park South (West 59th Street) and uptown along Broadway from Columbus Circle to West 72nd Street, where it cuts over to the southern terminus of Riverside Drive. At 135th Street, the bus route cuts back to Broadway, where it continues until the George Washington Bridge Bus Station at 178th Street.

The M5 Limited, which operates weekdays only, runs limited between 135th and 157th Streets, as well as between 72nd and either 8th or 14th Streets. Elsewhere, all limited buses make local stops. When the M5 Limited is running, there is no M5 local service.

History

Getting on the Broadway trolley at Herald Square

The Broadway and Seventh Avenue Railroad opened a line from Lower Manhattan to Central Park in 1864. However, south of Union Square, tracks were not allowed in Broadway due to local opposition. Thus the route began in the trackage west of City Hall, jointly owned by the Sixth Avenue Railroad and Eighth Avenue Railroad, and used the one-way pair of Church Street and West Broadway to Canal Street and Greene Street and Wooster Street to 8th Street, north of which both directions used University Place to Union Square. North of Union Square, tracks were built in Broadway to north of Times Square, where it merged with the Broadway and Seventh Avenue Railroad's other line, along Seventh Avenue, to end at Seventh Avenue and 59th Street.

On May 8, 1884, Jacob Sharp, the owner of the Broadway and Seventh Avenue Railroad, incorporated the Broadway Surface Railroad to run along Broadway from Union Square south to the Bowling Green. It opened in 1885, and was leased to the Broadway and Seventh Avenue Railroad. A cable was installed on May 1, 1893, and the Lexington Avenue Line and Broadway and Columbus Avenue Line were also operated by cable as branches. The Broadway Line was electrified with conduit in May 1901.

The Broadway and Seventh Avenue Railroad was leased by the Houston, West Street and Pavonia Ferry Railroad on June 30, 1893, and the lessee merged with the Broadway Surface Railroad and South Ferry Railroad on November 29, 1893 to form the Metropolitan Street Railway. Buses were substituted for streetcars by the New York City Omnibus Corporation on March 6, 1936. That company changed its name to Fifth Avenue Coach Lines in 1956; the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority took over operations in 1962.

When Broadway, Sixth Avenue, and Seventh Avenue became one-way streets, the Sixth Avenue bus (numbered 5) and Broadway-Seventh Avenue bus (numbered 6) were combined as the 6, now the M6.

Closures of Broadway in the Theater District south of 47 Street and around Herald Square in 2009 resulted in major changes to southbound service, with the northern half of the route shifting to 7th Avenue before returning to Broadway in the vicinity of Union Square.

In June 2010, due to budget problems, the M6 was discontinued and the M5 was extended to South Ferry via Broadway.