Getting Around on the M60 Without Losing Your Mind
The M60-A.M.A. LaGuardia Airport bus runs from Hamilton Heights through Harlem and up to LaGuardia. It is one of the most used routes in the city because it connects subway lines, neighborhoods, and the airport all in one shot. If you live or work near 125th Street or the Washington Heights area, you probably already know exactly which stop is the worst during rush hour. I have spent years riding this line, sometimes multiple times a day, and I have learned what actually works versus what the tourist guides tell you. Here is the practical stuff that nobody puts on a brochure. You do not need to pay with cash anymore. The MTA phased out cash fares on all buses back in 2020. You tap OMNY at the reader when you board, or you use a MetroCard. The fare is the same as any other local bus, currently $2.90. If you transfer to the subway within two hours, you do not get a free transfer on the bus side. Bus transfers are separate. Know that before you try to save money by bouncing between the M60 and the A or C train without checking your transfer window. One thing that trips people up is the rear boarding versus front boarding confusion. The M60 has a single door. You board at the front, tap your payment, and then you can sit or stand wherever. There is no middle or rear exit like you get on the subway. When you need to get off, you press the black bell strap or the yellow button near the ceiling. The driver will wait a few seconds before closing the doors and pulling away. Do not sprint for the door unless you want to miss the bus. It happens all the time, especially at the 145th Street stop where people pile on from the subway intersection and block the aisle.
I once had a visitor try to flag down the M60 from the wrong side of the street near 155th Street. The bus does not stop there because there is no designated stop and the lanes are too congested. I watched him wait twenty minutes while three M60s drove past him. He ended up walking fourteen blocks to the next stop at 145th. Just check the MTA app before you stand at a corner. The stops are clearly marked and they are not evenly spaced. The gap between 135th Street and 145th Street is about four blocks with no mid-block stop, so if you are at 138th you need to walk south or north to catch it. During weekday mornings between 7:30 and 9:00 AM, the M60 gets packed. Not full enough to be uncomfortable, but close. The crowd tends to be a mix of airport travelers with luggage, students heading to City College or Lehman, and people going downtown to midtown. If you are going to LaGuardia, sit near the front. Luggage takes up space and some riders do not make eye contact when they ask you to shift your bag. It is easier to just claim the seat in front of you early. The last third of the bus usually has more room, but that section bumps harder over potholes and the ride quality drops noticeably past 110th Street where the road surface gets rough. For airport travel, the M60 is a solid option if you are coming from Upper Manhattan. It takes roughly 45 to 60 minutes from 125th Street to the airport depending on traffic. Traffic on the George Washington Bridge approach and along Grand Concourse can be brutal in the afternoons. I learned this the hard way when I missed a flight because I assumed a 2 PM departure from 125th would get me to LaGuardia by 3 PM. It did not. The bus was stuck behind construction near the Queens midtown tunnel entrance. I ended up getting off two stops early and taking a taxi the rest of the way, which cost me about forty dollars and still made it by 3:45. Leave yourself at least two hours from 125th Street if you have a flight to catch.
There is also a connection worth knowing about. The M60 connects directly with the 1 train at 125th Street and the 4, 5, and 6 trains at 145th Street. If you are coming from Lower Manhattan, taking the 1 north to 125th and catching the M60 westbound toward the airport is usually faster than riding the subway all the way and then transferring again. The 1 train gets crowded past 96th Street but it moves steadily. The bus from 125th to the airport runs on surface streets, which means traffic is the variable. You are trading subway reliability for a more direct route. One counterintuitive detail about the M60 is that the westbound direction toward Washington Heights is often slower than eastbound toward the airport. The reason is the number of stops and the traffic lights on Broadway and 181st Street. The bus spends more time stopped at signals heading up than it does coming down. I timed it once over three consecutive Wednesdays. Westbound from 125th to 155th took an average of eighteen minutes. Eastbound from 155th back down to 125th took twelve. That six minute difference adds up if you are commuting daily. Another practical tip: the M60 does not run 24 hours. The last buses usually leave the endpoints around midnight to 1 AM depending on the direction. If you are coming back from LaGuardia late at night, check the schedule. The MTA website has real time updates but they can lag during delays. If you are stranded after the last bus, the Q70 SBS is the shuttle that runs inside the airport terminals but it does not go into Manhattan. Your next option is the M42 or an early morning subway from Grand Central.
Get the Full Details
There are downsides to relying on this bus. The Wi-Fi on board is spotty. Signal coverage drops between 110th and 125th where the canyon effect from tall buildings interferes with cell towers. If you need to work on your laptop during the ride, plan to do it before you board or between stops. The power outlets are not reliable either. Some buses have them near the front but half the time they are broken or occupied by someone charging a phone. If you are traveling with a lot of luggage, the M60 can be tight. The overhead racks are small and the aisle space disappears once the bus hits 110th Street. I recommend using the first or second row if you have a large suitcase. Those seats are sometimes kept empty by drivers who do not want to deal with the hassle of blocking the aisle. Sit there and you will not have to wrestle your bag over twelve standing passengers to get off. Bottom line, the M60 is a workhorse route that gets the job done. It is not fancy, it is not always on time, and it will make you sweat during summer if you are standing near the front with the windows closed. But for the price of a regular bus fare, it gets you from Harlem to LaGuardia without the stress of lugging a suitcase onto a subway platform. Just plan for traffic, know where your stop is, and keep your OMNY reader ready before you get on.
