The Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives announced their Pokey Awards winner for the slowest bus route in New York City: the M34 across Manhattan’s 34th Street averages four miles per hour during rush hour. NYC’s have been labeled the slowest urban buses in the United States.

Slowest bus routes in each city borough are the B63, Q24 and Q32 (tied), Bx13 and S60 took the prizes for Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Staten Island, respectively. In the overall rankings, Manhattan buses were at the slower end. The groups said it takes an hour and fifteen minutes to travel to Philadelphia on a regularly scheduled Amtrak train (though in fairness to NYC Transit, delay is routine on Amtrak as well), but that many city buses take far longer to run their routes.

In order to improve on pokey performance, the MTA began a $2 million bus rapid transit study in July, and has included $22 million in the draft 2005-2009 MTA capital program. Some ideas being examined in the study are wider bus lanes with expanded hours, bus priority traffic signals and pre-boarding fare payment for routes with a great many passengers. For more information regarding specific buses go to www.straphangers.org.

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