Fifth Avenue Coach Company

From Metro Wiki

The Fifth Avenue Coach Company was an operator of buses, primarily in the borough of Manhattan, but with some operations in the Bronx and Queens in New York City. It began under the name Fifth Avenue Transportation Company (Ltd.) in 1885, with the intent of providing service on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, using horse-drawn omnibuses to avoid the laying of tracks on the avenue. In 1896 it was reincorporated as the Fifth Avenue Coach Company, still using horse-drawn omnibuses. The initial route ran from Washington Square to 90th Street, but additional operations followed. In 1900 the company attempted to introduce battery-powered buses, but the experiment was unsuccessful and horse drawn vehicles were restored until 1907, although beginning with 1905 motorized buses were experimentally used. Vehicles were double-decked and imitated the design of horse buses used in London. In 1907 motor buses were introduced, with engines made in France and chassis in England. This made Fifth Avenue the only motorized bus operator in New York City until 1916.

In 1898 the company was bought by the Third Avenue Railway Company, and one year later it became a subsidiary of the New York Transportation Company, but regained its independence in 1912. In 1924 it was taken over by the Omnibus Corporation, which was founded by John Hertz who had started a taxicab company in Chicago, Illinois. The Omnibus Corporation also controlled bus operations in Chicago under the name Chicago Motor Coach Company. In 1954, the Omnibus Corporation sold the assets of Fifth Avenue Coach Co. to the New York City Omnibus Corporation, which renamed itself in 1956 to Fifth Avenue Coach Lines to take advantage of the well-known Fifth Avenue Coach name.

In 1924 the company took over from Concourse Bus Lines the operation of two bus routes on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. The Surface Transportation Corporation of New York, a subsidiary of the Third Avenue Railway System founded in 1924, however, took over those routes in 1928 from Fifth Avenue.

The company took advantage of its run on Fifth Avenue, a high-class thoroughfare, to run open-top double-deck buses, and charge a premium fare (ten cents when most transit operators charged five).

[edit] Routes operated

Original Number	Current Number	Route Name	Notes
1	M1	Fifth Avenue
2	M2	Fifth Av.-110th-Seventh Av.
3	M3	Fifth Av.-110th-St. Nicholas
	M18	Fifth Av.-110th-Convent Av.
4	M4	Fifth Av.-110th-Riverside Dr.
5	M5	Fifth Av.-57th-Riverside Dr.
6	M30	72d St.-57th St. Crosstown
8	M5	Fifth Av.-57th-Riverside Dr.
12 (?)	Bx1	Concourse-138th St.	Originally operated by Concourse Bus operated by Fifth Avenue from 1924-1928 Transferred to Surface Transportation in 1928
14 (?)	Bx2	Concourse-Hub	Originally operated by Concourse Bus operated by Fifth Avenue from 1924-1928 Transferred to Surface Transportation in 1928
15	Q32	Fifth Av.-Queens	originally changed to M32 by NYCTA
16		Elmhurst Crosstown	abandoned
20	M57	57th St. Crosstown

[edit] External link

History of Fifth Avenue Coach, emphasizing its in-house bus-building

	edit Defunct New York City Transit Operators
Steam railroads later converted to rapid transit systems	Brooklyn and Brighton Beach Railroad • Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Rail Road • Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Railroad • Brooklyn, Bath and West End Railroad • Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railway • Coney Island Elevated Railway • Greenwood and Coney Island Railroad • Marine Railway • New York and Coney Island Railroad • New York and Manhattan Beach Railway • New York and Sea Beach Railroad • New York and Sea Beach Railway • New York, Brooklyn and Manhattan Beach Railroad • Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad • Sea Beach Railway • Sea View Railroad
Rapid transit systems	Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation • Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company • Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad • Interborough Rapid Transit Company • Kings County Elevated Railway
Streetcar systems	Avenue C Railroad Company • Belt Line Railway • Bleecker Street and Fulton Ferry Railroad • Broadway and Seventh Avenue Railroad • Broadway Surface Railroad • Broadway Railway Company • Brooklyn and North River Railroad • Brooklyn & Queens Transit Corporation • Brooklyn Central and Jamaica Railroad • Brooklyn City Rail Road • Brooklyn Crosstown Railroad • Brooklyn, Queens County and Suburban Railroad • Bush Terminal Railroad • Bushwick Railroad • Calvary Cemetery, Greenpoint and Brooklyn Railroad • Central Crosstown Railroad Company • Central Park, North and East River Railroad • Chambers Street and Grand Street Ferry Railroad • Christopher and Tenth Street Railroad Company • Columbus and Ninth Avenue Railroad • Coney Island and Brooklyn Rail Road • Coney Island, Fort Hamilton and Brooklyn Railroad • Dry Dock, East Broadway and Battery Railroad • Eighth Avenue Railroad Company • Flushing and College Point Electric Railway • Fort George and Eleventh Avenue Railroad • Forty-Second Street and Grand Street Ferry Railroad Company • Fourth Avenue Street Railway • Fulton Street Railroad • Grand Street and Newtown Rail Road • Greenpoint and Lorimer Street Railroad • Houston, West Street and Pavonia Ferry Railroad • Interurban Street Railway • Jamaica Central Railways Company • Kings County Electric Railway • Lexington Avenue and Pavonia Ferry Railroad • Long Island City and Calvary Cemetery Railroad • Long Island City and Maspeth Railroad • Long Island City and Newtown Railway • Long Island Electric Railway • Manhattan and Queens Traction Company • Manhattan Bridge Three Cent Line • Marine Railway • Maspeth Avenue and Toll Bridge Company • Maspeth Railroad and Bridge Company • Metropolitan Crosstown Railway • Metropolitan Street Railroad • Metropolitan Street Railway • Nassau Electric Railroad • Newtown Railway • New Williamsburgh and Flatbush Railroad • New York and Harlem Railroad Company • New York and North Shore Traction Company • New York and Queens County Railway Company • New York and Queens Transit Corporation • New York City Railway Company • New York Railways Company • Ninth Avenue Railroad Company • Park Avenue Railroad • Queensboro Bridge Railway Company • Rikers Avenue and Sanford Point Railroad • Second Avenue Railroad • Sixth Avenue Railroad Company • South Brooklyn Street Railroad • South Ferry Railroad Company • Steinway and Hunters Point Railroad • Steinway Railway Corporation • Third Avenue Railroad • Third Avenue Railway • Third Avenue Transit Corporation • Thirty-fourth Street Crosstown Railway • Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Streets Crosstown Railroad • Twenty-Third Street Railroad Company • Union Railroad (Brooklyn) • Union Railway Company of New York City • Van Brunt Street and Erie Basin Rail Road
Bus systems	Affiliated Bus Transit Corporation • Argus Line Transportation Corporation • Avenue B & East Broadway Transit Company • B&L Transportation • Bilow Bus Line • Brooklyn Bus Corporation • Command Bus Company • Comprehensive Omnibus Corporation • Concourse Bus Lines • Courier Bus Company • Eastern Parkway, Brownsville and East New York Transit Relief Association • East Side Omnibus Corporation • Fifth Avenue Coach Company • Fifth Avenue Coach Lines, Incorporated • Flushing Heights Bus Company • General Omnibus Corporation • Greater Cities Bus Lines • Green Bus Lines • Hamilton Bus Company • Independent Buses • Jamaica Bus Line • Jamaica Buses • Kings Coach Company • Liberty Bus Transportation • Liberty Lines Express • Long Island Coach Company • Madison Avenue Coach Company, Incorporated • Manhattan & Queens Bus Corporation • Midland Coach Corporation‎ • Municipal Motorbus Company • National City Bus Lines • New York Bus Service • New York City Omnibus Corporation • North Shore Bus Company • Pioneer Bus Company • Plum Beach Auto Stage • Queens Auto Traction • Queens Bus Corporation • Queens Bus Lines • Queens-Nassau Transit Lines • Queens Surface Corporation • Queens Transit Corporation • Rauchwerger Bus Company • Richmond Hill Bus Line • Ruoff Brothers • S&C Buses • S&F Transportation • Steinway Omnibus Corporation • Steinway Transit Corporation • Surface Transit, Incorporated • Surface Transportation Corporation of New York • Triangle Bus Company • Triboro Coach Corporation • Woodside-Astoria Transportation Company • Z&M Coach Company