NFTA 4 Broadway Bus
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[edit] Overview
The 4 Broadway bus line had it's beginnings in 1885 as a streetcar line between Downtown Buffalo and Emslie Street.
Over the years, the streetcar service extended through to the New York Central crossing near Broadway and Ogden Streets. The streetcar eventually ended its configuration at the Buffalo City Line.
For the most part, service operated from the Broadway/Bailey car barns near Broadway and Greene Streets, and then the Gisel-Wolford Bus Terminal at Babcock and Howard Streets, between William and Clinton.
In addition, recent weekend service operated from the Cold Springs Terminal at Main and Michigan Streets in Buffalo, but were transferred to Frontier Station at Kenmore Avenue and Military Road when Cold Springs ceased weekend service.
The 4 Broadway bus serves the following points of interest:
- The historic Broadway Market (not to be confused with Broadway Market of the UK)
- Buffalo City Hall
- Thruway Plaza
- Walden Galleria Mall
- Appletree Business Park
- Saint Stanislaus Church
- New York Central Terminal
[edit] 1890's
[edit] 1950
The final day of streetcar service for the City of Buffalo came on July 1, 1950, when the 4 Broadway, 23 Fillmore/Hertel and 24 Genesee streetcars became the final streetcar lines to end service. Less than a half month earlier, on June 18, 1950, the 8 Main, 9 Parkside and 13 Kensington streetcars met the same fate.
The bus service that replaced the streetcar service began with frequent service operating for the first time across Main Street, instead of the Washington/Division/Ellicott/Eagle loop that it had followed for so many years before.
[edit] 1960's
With the acquisition of Buffalo Transit routes during this decade, the 4 Broadway line began moving service eastward into the suburbs.
One branch of the line continued into Lancaster and Alden, using the "4 A", "4 B", "4 D" and "4 F" variations; one branch continued east, then south along Harlem Road towards William Street and Cayuga Creek Road, carrying the "4 J", "4 K", "4 T" and "4 W" variations; and the final variation conitinued east on Broadway, and north on Harlem to the then new Tiorunda Housing Projects, now Cedargrove Circle, carrying the "4 H" and "4 S" variations.
[edit] 1970's and 1980's
The 17 Central Terminal route ceased operation about this time and the 4 Broadway line picked up the remaining service and desginated it as a "C" variation, making some buses bypass some of the Broadway Market area while it continued towards the city limits over Fillmore Avenue, Paderewski Drive, and Memorial Drive.
[edit] 1990's
In 1993, the NFTA system embarked on a new Metro System that streamlined a number of its services and removed some of the service on Broadway, in favor of adding the service to extend other lines.
Route 6 Sycamore took over most of the service into Lancaster, but after passenger complaints, some service was readded to the Broadway bus line.
Route 1 William took over most of Cayuga service area, and operates more frequent service to Appletree Business Park. Route 4 Broadway still services the business park, but heads south from Walden Avenue using Union Road after serving the Walden Galleria Mall.
In 1994, the "4H" and "4S" variations were combined into a new "4M Main" variation that operated even further north to Main Street and the Park Club Lane area that has been experiencing expansion into a business park type setting. This variation operated for approximately two years before being discontinued, truncating service north of Broadway to terminate at the Thruway Plaza Transit Center.
[edit] 2000's
The route 4 Broadway bus experienced even further streamlining so that the current alignment operates only to Michael Loop (City Line), Thruway Plaza (Harlem), and Appletree Business Park (Appletree).
