Q27 (New York City bus)

Service on the route that became the Q27 was started in October 1928 by the Z & M Coach Corporation to connect the subway in Flushing, at Main Street and Amity Street, to the Rosewood section of Bayside. The owner of the company, Fred M. Zander, was fined $25 twice in November for operating the route without a license. He continued operating the service despite the order to stop service until he obtained a permit for it.[6] Rosewood residents banded together to raise money and hire the bus like a taxi to allow service to continue.[7] The bus route was supported by the Rosewood Improvement Association and the East Flushing Civic Association.[8] The route originally operated between Flushing and the Horace Harding Expressway,[9] and was known as the Flushing–Rosewood route.[10]

In 1931, the New York City Board of Estimate was deciding which bus route franchises would be given to which private operators. Along with thirty other bus routes, the Q27 was tentatively assigned to the North Shore Bus Company as part of Zone B, one of four bus zones in the borough, which covered Flushing and northern Queens.[10] Z & M obtained a one-year franchise to the route on December 30, 1932. On May 2, 1933, the New York State Transit Commission granted the company a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the route for the duration of the franchise. The New York City government granted the company another franchise for the route on April 26, 1935, for a period beginning at the end of the first contract, and ending no later than December 31, 1938. At public hearings at the Transit Commission to obtain certification for the franchise, it was found that Z & M operated the Q26 route at a fare greater than provided for in the franchise contract. The hearings closed on June 18, and the Transit Commission gave Z & M an opportunity to revise the franchise with New York City. On October 4, 1935, the Board of Estimate adopted a resolution giving the company a 90-day extension from October 23 to get the franchise certified. On January 29, 1936, the Transit Commission declined to certify the route as the extension expired.[11]

On November 9, 1936, the operation of the route was transferred to the North Shore Bus Company.[12] On March 30, 1947, North Shore Bus was taken over by the New York City Board of Transportation (later the New York City Transit Authority) since it could not operate on the mandated five-cent fare and went bankrupt, its former routes were turned over to city operation.[13][14][15]

Alternate buses were extended south along Springfield Boulevard to Queens Village station of the Long Island Rail Road on April 30, 1950. This change had been approved by the New York City Board of Estimate on April 4.[16] On January 22, 1957, service was extended on a 90-day trial basis by 2 miles (3.2 km) from the Queens Village LIRR station to the intersection of Springfield Boulevard and Merrick Boulevard, as part of a series of citywide bus changes. The change was approved by the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) on November 29, 1956.[17] On June 30, 1957,[18] service was extended on a 60-day trial basis by 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Springfield Boulevard and Merrick Boulevard to Merrick Boulevard and 233rd Street. The extension was made to encourage more people to use the bus route. Ridership on the temporary extension to Springfield Boulevard and Merrick Boulevard was low, with revenues averaging 23 cents per mile, lower than the 80 cents per mile needed to break even.[19] On August 26, 1957, the NYCTA announced that service would resume terminating at Springfield Boulevard and Merrick Boulevard on September 8, since it was losing $120 a day on the extension to 233rd Street.[20]

On September 26, 1982, wheelchair-accessible buses began operating on the Q27 and seventeen other city bus routes.[21] Between 1980 and 1985, buses were rerouted off Parsons Boulevard between 46th Avenue and Kissena Boulevard, the path it shared with the Q26, onto Holly Avenue and Kissena Boulevard.[22][23]

Rush hour peak-direction limited-stop service along the Q27 route was introduced in September 2001, to speed up bus service.[24] Service on the route would not be increased, but alternate trips would only make limited stops at major traffic generators between the terminal in Flushing and Springfield Boulevard and Horace Harding Expressway. South of there, all trips would make local stops. Limited-stop service would run to Flushing between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., and to Queens Village between 5 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. The change was made because 30% of riders used the route to get to the subway in Flushing.[25] Limited service was expected to save riders up to five minutes of travel time. The service change was cost neutral, with the potential to be revenue generating as faster service could potentially attract more riders. An alternate proposal that the New York City Transit Authority considered was only implementing limited service along 46th Avenue, the section of the route shared with the Q26.[26] Q27 buses began serving Queensborough Community College on September 9, 2002; previously, the closest Q27 stop was 0.25 miles (0.40 km) from the campus.[27]

On January 4, 2004, service was extended to 120th Avenue and Springfield Boulevard in Cambria Heights to replace Q83 service on Springfield Boulevard between Murdock Avenue and Queens Village LIRR station.[28][29][30]

Overnight trips were extended from Queens Village to Cambria Heights on January 6, 2013, as part of a series of service enhancements made by New York City Transit.[31][32] The route's northern terminal was shifted from Main Street and 39th Avenue to 39th Avenue and 138th Street in August 2014.[33]^:139–142