Q72 (New York City bus)

q72
Junction Boulevard Line
A Rego Park-bound Q72 just south of LaGuardia Airport in East Elmhurst.
Overview
System	MTA Regional Bus Operations
Operator	MTA Bus Company
Garage	LaGuardia Depot
Vehicle	Nova Bus RTS-06 Orion VII Orion VII Next Generation New Flyer XD40 Xcelsior
Began service	1894 (trolley line) 1949 (bus)
Route
Locale	Queens
Communities served	Rego Park, LeFrak City, Elmhurst, Corona, Jackson Heights, North Corona, East Elmhurst, LaGuardia Airport
Start	Rego Park – 63rd Drive & Queens Boulevard (Rego Center)
Via	Junction Boulevard, 94th Street
End	LaGuardia Airport – Central Terminals
Service
Operates	All times except late nights
Daily ridership	1,880,097 (2014)
Fare	$2.75 (MetroCard or coins)
Cash	Coins only (exact change required)
Transfers	Yes
Timetable	Q72
Route map ← Q70  {{{system_nav}}}  Q76 →

The Q72 bus route constitutes a public transit route along Junction Boulevard and 94th Street in Queens, New York City, United States. It operates between the Rego Park and East Elmhurst neighborhoods of Queens, and extends into LaGuardia Airport at the north end of the borough. It is city-operated under the MTA Bus Company brand of MTA Regional Bus Operations.

The route was originally a streetcar line known as the North Beach line or Junction Boulevard line running primarily on Junction Avenue, the predecessor to Junction Boulevard, to the resorts of Queens' North Beach on the Bowery Bay coastline. It began operation in the late 1890s, running as a standalone shuttle service and facilitating through service from the Flushing–Ridgewood Line and Grand Street Line (now the Q58 and Q59 buses respectively) to central Queens and Brooklyn. All three lines were replaced by city buses in the 1940s, though the Junction Boulevard route would be privately operated by Triboro Coach from 1961 to 2006 when it was taken over by the MTA Bus Company.

Originally a branch of the Grand Street and Flushing–Ridgewood lines, the Junction Boulevard line began at the intersection of Corona Avenue and Junction Avenue (later Junction Boulevard) and traveled north along Junction to its terminus in Jackson Heights and Corona. It then turned east and north along Old Bowery Road (later Jackson Mill Road) through East Elmhurst, crossing Jackson Mill Pond and terminating at a loop at North Beach amusement area, a peninsula on the Bowery Bay coastline. This is the modern location of LaGuardia Airport. The line stopped serving the shoreline in the 1920s following the decline of the North Beach resorts. It was truncated to Ditmars Boulevard by 1939, and was never extended to serve LaGuardia Airport. The combined Grand Street/Grand Avenue and Junction Boulevard service was also known as the Maspeth−North Beach Line.