The Q20A and Q20B (collectively referred to as Q20A/B or Q20) and Q44 bus routes constitute the Main Street Line, a public transit line in Queens, New York City, running primarily along Main Street between two major bus-subway hubs in the neighborhoods of Jamaica and Flushing.

Throughout Queens, the Q44 provides limited-stop service, making intermittent stops primarily at major intersections and points of interest.

The Q44 continues along East 177th Street until the interchange with the Sheridan Expressway, where it turns north onto Devoe Avenue.

[9] Before the implementation of Select Bus Service in November 2015, the route ran entirely local along East 177th Street.

The Q20A branches off at 20th Avenue, running along the northern edge of the former Flushing Airport and serving a large shopping center.

[17] At the time, Main Street had yet to be extended south past Reeves Avenue (the north end of modern Queens College).

[19][20] North Shore only acquired the Q25 on a temporary basis;[21] as compensation, the city assured the company that they would get a new route between Flushing and Jamaica via Main Street.

[21] This was planned to go into service after the extension of Main Street, including a bridge over the Grand Central Parkway, was completed.

Queens–Nassau Transit took over the Q25 service and combined it with their Q34 route along Linden Place and 127th Street in College Point (predecessor to the northern portion of the current Q25).

[23][25][26] In December 1936, North Shore applied for a franchise on route "Q-44" between Flushing and Jamaica via Main Street.

[30] The company advertised the route as the shortest "from the entire North Shore" of Queens to Jamaica, running 15 minutes between terminals.

[31][32][33] Following the opening of the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge in April 1939,[34] North Shore began operating bus service between West Farms Square in the Bronx and the 1939 New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park on July 1 of that year.

[38] On July 1, 1939, the Q20 became interlined with the Q17, meaning that south of Flushing the bus would continue via the Q17 route to the Jamaica−165th Street terminal.

[25][38][40][41] Beginning on June 8, 1942, due to restrictions on gasoline and tire usage during World War II, the service was truncated to 14th Avenue and 122nd Street in College Point.

[2][25][50][51] During the 1964 New York World's Fair, special Q44 service was inaugurated, running to the Rodman Street entrance of Flushing Meadows Park.

The change, which was made at the request of multiple Queens elected officials, was intended to provide shelter for riders and reduce downtown congestion.

[54][55] Queens Borough President Mario Cariello had sent a letter to the NYCTA asking for the change in service to be reversed on July 18.

[56] In December 1967, the NYCTA transmitted a proposed extension of the Q44 by 4.33 miles (6.97 km) to serve Co-Op City and to make a minor change at the western terminal of the route due to the conversion of some streets to one-way to the Board of Estimate.

[57] In October 1969, the General Superintendent of the NYCTA recommended modifying the route of the Q44 in the Bronx to eliminate its use of streets deemed to be "inadequate for bus passage."

[58] On April 15, 1990,[59] the Q44FS was renumbered to Q20; at this time 20th Avenue service began, when the street was widened and the shopping center was constructed.

[66] At this time, the Q44 was shifted from its historical route in the neighborhood of Briarwood between Union Turnpike and Hillside Avenue.

A spokesperson for the MTA said that it had no plans to revert the change in service, and noted that the areas on Queens Boulevard and Main Street that the Q44 was rerouted to had increased in density.

[68] Briarwood residents had organized and circulated a petition in opposition to the loss of bus service on 150th Street soon after the changes took effect.

[72][73] In February 2008, the MTA proposed an additional limited-stop service on the northern portion of the corridor between Flushing and Fordham Plaza, provisionally named the Q94.

Eliminating the required transfer to the Bx9 at East 180th Street, it was referred to as a "Super Limited", and would have also replaced the special X32 school service (since discontinued) between Queens and Bedford Park.

[90][91] As part of the redesign, the Q44 would have become a "high-density" route called the QT44 and would be extended in the Bronx to Fordham Plaza Bus Terminal.

The northern part of the Q20 would have taken over the Q15's routing in Beechhurst, while its southern terminus would have been cut back to the Briarwood station.

[102] 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.