The M7 route begins at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and 14th Street. Northbound it shares Sixth Avenue with the M55 between 14th Street and 44th Street, as well as the M5 above 31st Street. Southbound it shares Seventh Avenue with the M20. The M7 turns west at 59th Street and northwest on Broadway to reach the one-way pair of Amsterdam Avenue (northbound) and Columbus Avenue (southbound). These two streets are shared with the M11. The M7 turns east at 106th Street, north on Manhattan Avenue, east on 116th Street, and north on Lenox Avenue to a loop at the 145th Street subway station.[3] This is the exact path followed by the former streetcar north of 109th Street.
Prior to 2009, southbound M7 service ran along Broadway and terminated at Union Square along 14th Street. This was changed due to pedestrianization of Broadway at Times Square, Duffy Square, and Herald Square, which closed the street to traffic. The southbound M7 now turns left at 14th Street and terminates at Sixth Avenue and 14th Street.
Columbus Avenue cars were operated by the Metropolitan along their Broadway Line from lower Manhattan to Midtown, and then along the 53rd Street Crosstown Line (later the 59th Street Crosstown Line) west to 9th Avenue/Columbus Avenue. Cable cars were used from the line's opening on December 6, 1894 until May 1901. After the Metropolitan system was split in 1913, and the Third Avenue Railway acquired the 59th Street Crosstown, 53rd Street was again used.
The pedestrianization of Broadway in Times Square and Herald Square in 2009 led southbound buses to be rerouted onto Seventh Avenue instead of Broadway between 59th Street and 14th Street. Consequently, the 14th Street terminus was shifted to Sixth Avenue.
On November 28, 2018, the route's southern terminal was moved to 18th Street and Sixth Avenue. Southbound buses began to run on 16th Street to reach the terminal.[5] As of 2020, the M7 has been restored to 14th Street and Sixth Avenue.
^"M7 bus schedule"(PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. November 28, 2018. Archived(PDF) from the original on January 6, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2018.