M15 (New York City bus)

m15 m15
First and Second Avenues Line
A 2017 XD60 (6039) on the Harlem-bound M15 local at 1st Avenue/23rd Street in Kips Bay, and in June 2024, a 2019 XD60 (6210) on the South Ferry-bound M15 SBS
Overview
System	MTA Regional Bus Operations
Operator	Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority
Garage	Tuskegee Airmen Depot (local) Mother Clara Hale Depot (SBS)
Vehicle	Nova Bus LFS articulated New Flyer Xcelsior XD60 (main vehicles) New Flyer Xcelsior XD40 Nova Bus LFS HEV (local supplemental service) New Flyer Xcelsior XDE40 (SBS supplemental service)
Livery	M15 SBS: Select Bus Service
Route
Locale	Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Communities served	East Harlem, Upper East Side, Yorkville, Lenox Hill, Turtle Bay, Murray Hill, Kips Bay, Gramercy Park, East Village, Lower East Side, Chinatown, Financial District
Landmarks served	Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, United Nations
Start	East Harlem – 126th Street
Via	First Avenue (northbound) Second Avenue (southbound) Allen Street Water Street
End	Pike Street / Cherry Street (local only) South Ferry (both variants)
Length	8.6 miles (13.8 km)[1] (southbound)
Service
Operates	24 hours; no SBS or Cherry Street service at night[2][3]
Annual patronage	10,468,682 (2023)[4]
Transfers	Yes
Timetable	M15 M15 SBS
Route map Legend East Harlem – 126th Street  M15  M15  125th Street Paladino Avenue 122nd Street 120th Street 119th Street 116th Street 115th Street 113th Street 111th Street 108th Street 106th Street 103rd Street 102nd Street 101st Street 99th Street 96th Street 94th Street 93rd Street 92nd Street 89th Street 87th Street 86th Street 84th Street 82nd Street 79th Street 77th Street 75th Street 72nd Street 70th Street 68th Street 67th Street 66th Street 64th Street 62nd Street 61st Street 57th Street 55th Street 54th Street 52nd Street 50th Street 46th Street 45th Street 44th Street 42nd Street 39th Street 36th Street 35th Street 34th Street 31st Street 29th Street 28th Street 27th Street 25th Street 23rd Street 20th Street 17th Street 14th Street 12th Street 11th Street 9th Street St. Marks Place 6th Street 4th Street 3rd Street 1st Street Forsyth Street 2nd | 1st Avenues Houston Street ​ Stanton Street Delancey Street Grand Street Hester Street Canal Street Division Street Madison Street Pike Street  M15  southern short turn Market Street Catherine Street St. James Place Pearl Street Frankfort Street Peck Slip Fulton Street John Street Wall Street Old Slip Hanover Square Water Street–Broad Streets South Ferry ​  M15  M15  Legend SBS & Local stops Local stops  M15  Local terminal  M15  SBS terminal Subway connection ← M14 SBS  {{{system_nav}}}  M20 → M23 SBS →

The First and Second Avenues Line, also known as the Second Avenue Line, is a bus route in Manhattan, New York City, running mostly along Second Avenue (and northbound on First Avenue since 1951) from Lower Manhattan to East Harlem. Originally a streetcar line along Second Avenue, it is now the M15 bus route, the busiest bus route in the city and United States, carrying 16.4 million riders annually.^[5] MTA Regional Bus Operations, under the New York City Bus and Select Bus Service brands, operates the local out of the Tuskegee Airmen Bus Depot and the SBS from the Mother Clara Hale Bus Depot. Service is operated with articulated buses, unless supplemental service is needed.

The Second Avenue Railroad opened the line in 1853 and 1854, from Peck Slip on the East River north along Pearl Street, Bowery (shared with the Third Avenue Line), Grand Street, Chrystie Street, and Second Avenue to East Harlem. A short branch was later built along Stuyvesant Street and Astor Place to end at Broadway in NoHo. The Metropolitan Street Railway leased the line in January 1898, and on April 3 the line from Astor Place to Manhattan was electrified. The original line was later electrified to the Bowery, where streetcars used the Third Avenue Line to City Hall, and the line to Peck Slip was abandoned.

Buses were substituted for streetcars by the East Side Omnibus Corporation on June 25, 1933. The New York City Board of Transportation took over operations in 1948, with the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) replacing it in 1953.

Limited-stop service began on September 13, 1976, with buses making only 15 stops, spaced every eight blocks, between 126th Street and Houston Street, saving riders up to 23 minutes. Limited-stop service ran every six minutes on weekdays, heading southbound in the morning, between 7:12 and 9:21 a.m., and northbound in the afternoon, between 4:12 and 6:11 p.m.^[6] These buses were identified by signs on the lower right side of the windshield.^[7] As part of the project, new dedicated bus lanes were installed.

On September 7, 1987, a public hearing was held to discuss the NYCTA's plan to reduce the span of weekend evening M15 service to City Hall and Park Row from ending at 12:40 a.m. to ending at 8:10 p.m.. In addition, the hours of weekday service were to be lengthened slightly. The changes were to be made to provide a more uniform service frequency and service pattern.^[8]

On January 13, 1997, 108 more limited-stop trips were added on weekdays.^[9] In June 2002 as part of an outside study, the First/Second Avenues corridor was identified for the implementation of bus rapid transit (BRT) service, due to heavy ridership and slow travel speeds on the corridor.^[10][11] In November 2002, the MTA Board voted to lengthen the span of weekday evening southbound service by one hour to 7:50 p.m., weekday northbound service by 1.5 hours to 9:45 p.m., the span of northbound evening Saturday service by one hour to 8:25 p.m., and the span of northbound Sunday service to 8:10 p.m.. The service increase was expected to result in no change in costs initially. Though the change was initially expected to take effect in March 2003,^[12] it was implemented on April 14, 2003.^[13]

In late 2004, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the New York City Department of Transportation selected the route as one of the candidates for bus rapid transit service, along with Fordham Road (since implemented), Nostrand Avenue, Merrick Boulevard, and Hylan Boulevard. This evolved into Phase I of the Select Bus Service (SBS) program in 2006.^{[10][14][15][16]} On October 10, 2010, service began on the M15 Select Bus Service, replacing limited stop service.^{[16][17][18][19]} Due to the construction of the Second Avenue Subway, the M15 SBS initially had no stop at 72nd Street, even though that was a major street that had been served by limited-stop buses.^[20] Both the M15 local and M15 SBS were previously assigned to the 126th Street Depot until January 4, 2015.^[21]

The M15 runs between South Ferry in the Financial District and 126th Street in East Harlem. ^[22] Southbound service uses Second Avenue from East 125th to Houston Streets, then uses First Avenue, Madison Street, Water Street and South Ferry. Limited buses made all stops south of Houston Street. ^[23] Prior to the implementation of the M15 SBS, previous M15 Limited stops were eliminated at St Mark's Place and East 72nd Street north of Houston Street. Several stops south of Houston Street were also eliminated.^[24][25]During the daytime and evening hours, local service alternates between Whitehall Street and Pike Street / Cherry Street. During AM Rush Hour, some Select Bus Service trips terminate/originate at Houston St.^[26] Overnight service is provided by local buses only, serving Whitehall Street-South Ferry. Select Bus Service trips terminate at the South Ferry bus loop. By then, the MTA had discontinued service to City Hall due to budget cuts.^[27]

External videos
SBS Bus Wrapping, Metropolitan Transportation Authority; October 12, 2010; 1:48 YouTube video clip
How to Ride the M15 Select Bus Service, Metropolitan Transportation Authority; October 20, 2010; 2:10 YouTube video clip

• Media related to M15 (New York City bus) at Wikimedia Commons
• M15 First/Second Avenues SBS − mta.info
• First Avenue And Second Avenue Select Bus Service − NYCDOT