It operates between the Rego Park and East Elmhurst neighborhoods of Queens, and extends into LaGuardia Airport at the north end of the borough.

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.

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.

It extends along the former trolley route on Junction Boulevard, then directly north on 94th Street to East Elmhurst and LaGuardia Airport.

It only entered the airport on its first and final daily trips, during early morning and late night hours.

[5][1][19] In the 1920s, due to the prohibition movement in the United States and pollution in Bowery Bay, the resorts at North Beach closed and the Junction line was truncated south of the former amusement area.

The winding and circuitous Jackson Mill Road, however, was preserved due to the presence of the streetcar line.

[9][16] In 1938, the City of New York notified the B&QT to abandon the remaining line north of the planned Grand Central Parkway in the North Beach vicinity, due to the construction of the New York Municipal Airport on the Glenn H. Curtiss/North Beach Airport site which replaced the resort area.

Due to conflicts with the city over a potential extension to the new municipal airport, the Junction line was never extended to the facility.

The last trolley to North Beach ran on December 9, 1938, after which service was truncated to Ditmars Boulevard at the south end of the 94th Street overpass over the Grand Central Parkway.

[8] Although initially planned to be extended north to LaGuardia Airport and south to Queens Boulevard,[25] the route continued to run only between Corona Avenue and Ditmars Boulevard/Grand Central Parkway.

[22][32][33] The switch to private operations eliminated the longtime free transfer to the B58 Flushing–Ridgewood service at Corona Avenue.

[38] On October 12, 2009, buses on the Q72 were equipped with luggage racks, as part of a ten-bus pilot program on airport bus services to improve passenger flow.

[49][50] The Q72's routing would not change, but some closely spaced stops would be eliminated, and service spans and frequencies would be modified, with extra rush hour trips added south of Ditmars Boulevard.

[52] On January 29, 2025, the current plan was approved by the MTA Board, and the Queens Bus Redesign will go into effect by Labor Day.