The Straphangers Campaign just released a survey of the city’s buses to determine the fastest, slowest, most-reliable and least-reliable buses in New York City. This was determined by the average “noon-time speeds” (going in both directions) of 34 Selected New York City Bus Routes from May 20 – August 21, 2014.
BUS Route | Avg. MPH |
---|---|
M79 | 3.2 |
M23 | 3.6 |
M42 | 3.8 |
M57 | 3.8 |
M50 | 4.0 |
M14A | 4.1 |
M14D | 4.4 |
M86 | 4.6 |
M21 | 4.7 |
M66 | 4.8 |
No surprise here that the slowest buses are all in Manhattan with the slowest being the 79 crosstown bus inching at just 3.2 miles per hour across 79th street. And of course the M14D, my “bus of preference,” is the seventh slowest bus in the city (stupid Union Square).
BUS Route | Avg. MPH |
---|---|
S79 SBS | 14.8 |
S53 | 10.1 |
Q27 | 9.6 |
Bx12 SBS | 9.2 |
B6 | 8.6 |
Q44 LTD | 8.4 |
Bx41 SBS | 8.4 |
S48/98 | 8.3 |
Q58 | 7.7 |
Bx12 | 7.4 |
And on the other end of the spectrum, the fastest buses all belong to the outer boroughs with Bronx (3), Queens (3), and Staten Island (3) all well-represented with Brooklyn being honored with one of the faster buses (B6) in New York.
The fastest Manhattan bus (non-Select Bus Service) is slower than almost every other outer borough bus (except the Bronx’s Bx19). Of the 20 slowest buses, 17 of them are in Manhattan. :/ Here’s the full list:
BUS Route | Avg. MPH |
---|---|
M79 | 3.2 |
M23 | 3.6 |
M42 | 3.8 |
M57 | 3.8 |
M50 | 4.0 |
M14A | 4.1 |
M14D | 4.4 |
M86 | 4.6 |
M21 | 4.7 |
M66 | 4.8 |
Bx19 | 4.8 |
M106 | 4.9 |
M8 | 5.0 |
M101 | 5.0 |
M96 | 5.2 |
M15 | 5.4 |
M116 | 5.6 |
B41 LTD | 5.7 |
M72 | 5.7 |
Bx2 | 5.9 |
B35 LTD | 6.2 |
M15 SBS | 6.4 |
Bx41 | 6.5 |
Bx1 LTD | 7.1 |
Bx12 | 7.4 |
Q58 | 7.7 |
S48/98 | 8.3 |
Bx41 SBS | 8.4 |
Q44 LTD | 8.4 |
B6 | 8.6 |
Bx12 SBS | 9.2 |
Q27 | 9.6 |
S53 | 10.1 |
S79 SBS | 14.8 |
The city’s least dependable bus? The M15 local. Read more at DNA Info or at Straphangers.org