The QM1, QM5, QM6, QM7, QM8, QM31, QM35, and QM36 bus routes constitute a public transit line in New York City, operating express between Northeast Queens and Midtown or Downtown Manhattan.

Some QM8 buses employ "Super Express" service, with larger non-stop sections during the trip.

[7][3][4] All eight bus routes run along Union Turnpike west of 188th Street, then along Queens Boulevard and the Long Island Expressway.

In Manhattan, there are segments where buses provide "open-door" service, both dropping off Manhattan-bound passengers and picking up Queens-bound riders.

[6] The QM6 and QM36 begin service at the North Shore Towers apartment complex in Glen Oaks, Queens, on the border with Lake Success, Nassau County.

They run south down 188th Street before turning west onto Union Turnpike and meeting the other routes of the corridor.

Buses then turn north on 188th Street and then onto the LIE, bypassing the Union Turnpike portion of the route.

[8][3][14] The QM7 and QM8 do not serve Midtown Manhattan, instead traveling south down the FDR Drive to the Brooklyn Bridge exit.

The routes turn south onto Pearl Street, making their first stop at Peck Slip; this is where Queens-bound buses begin pickups.

[3] In 1957, the New York City Board of Estimate received a proposal from Green Bus Lines for an express franchise between Fresh Meadows and 37th Street in Manhattan, running via the Long Island Expressway which was then under construction.

[16] On February 26, 1968 the route began operating between 188th Street at the Fresh Meadows Houses and Midtown Manhattan, with buses split between Third and Sixth Avenues.

The service was a 90-day trial run proposed by city traffic commissioner Henry A. Barnes, transportation administrator Arthur A. Palmer, and the New York Life Insurance Company which developed the Fresh Meadows Houses.

[18][19][20] On October 20, 1971, buses from both routes began using a new high-occupancy vehicle lane (HOV) created on the Long Island Expressway.

[25][26] By the early 2000s, the combined QM1/QM1A service was the busiest among privately operated express routes in the city.

The QM1 operated between Fresh Meadows and Midtown or Downtown weekdays only, primarily during peak hours.

This change was done in order to minimize passenger confusion, and to avoid the need to wait for the front sign to scroll to determine whether the bus was going via Third or Sixth Avenue.

The routes originating in Glen Oaks would have also been diverted to use the Long Island Expressway rather than Union Turnpike west of 188th Street.

[40] Under the new plan, the express routes would have largely kept their existing paths, but the QM5, QM8, and QM35 would have used the LIE instead of Union Turnpike.

[42][43] All eight routes that used Union Turnpike would continue to run on that road, although there would be changes to stop spacing and frequencies.