over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940. After the World's Fair closed in October 1940, the Willets Point Boulevard station continued to operate, serving Flushing Meadows Park. The overpass to Flushing Meadows Park was reconstructed in 1941. As part of a pilot program aimed at reducing traffic congestion in midtown Manhattan, a park and ride facility with 3,000 parking spots opened next to the Willets Point Boulevard station in November 1947. Many of the Willets Point Boulevard station's riders came from the park-and-ride facility and from United Nations General Assembly meetings in Flushing Meadows Park, but the New York Daily News said in 1949 that the station "serves practically no resident population". The IRT routes were given numbered designations in 1948 with the introduction of "R-type" rolling stock, which contained rollsigns with numbered designations for each service. The route from Times Square to Flushing became known as the 7. On October 17, 1949, the joint BMT/IRT operation of the Flushing Line ended, and the line became the responsibility of the IRT. After the end of BMT/IRT dual service, the New York City Board of Transportation announced that the Flushing Line platforms would be lengthened to 11 IRT car lengths; the platforms were only able to fit nine 51-foot-long IRT cars beforehand. The platforms at the station were extended in 1955–1956 to accommodate 11-car trains. However, nine-car trains continued to run on the 7 route until 1962, when they were extended to ten cars. At the end of 1949, the city proposed diverting several bus routes that terminated in Flushing, sending these routes to Willets Point Boulevard. The bus-terminal plan faced great opposition. Critics objected that business near the bus terminals in Flushing would decrease and that travel times from Willets Point Boulevard to points east would increase. Supporters of the plan noted the heavy traffic congestion on Flushing streets and the narrowness of the stairways at the Main Street station. Super-express 7 trains started serving the station in 1953, running nonstop between Queensboro Plaza and Willets Point Boulevard during rush hours in the peak direction. The super-express service was discontinued in 1956. 1964 World's Fair and Shea Stadium In 1960, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) proposed upgrading the station in advance of the 1964 New York World's Fair, which was to be held at Flushing Meadows. The plans included rebuilding the walkway between the station and the