By Philip Newman
The Q56 bus has “won” the distinction of slowest in Queens in the Straphangers Campaign’s 7th annual “Pokey” awards.
The title of slowest bus citywide was the M96, which the transit activist agency said travels at 3.7 miles per hour across uptown Manhattan from east to west.
The Straphangers said the Q56 bus averages 6.1 mph, slower than a chicken (9 mph) or a running mouse (9 mph).
The Q56 links Jamaica with East New York in Brooklyn and, while slow it still has a record of faster service than the M96 (3.7 mph), in Manhattan, the BX19 (5.3 mph) in the Bronx and the B63 (4.9 mph) in Brooklyn. Staten Island’s slowest was the S42 (11.4 mph).
The Straphangers said the M96 in Manhattan provided transportation “not much faster than walking (3 mph) or slower than an elephant.
The passenger advocacy group also named the M101/2/3, which runs on Lexington, Amsterdam and Lenox avenues in Manhattan as the winner of the 2008 Schleppie award for overall unreliability.
“More than one in four buses bunched together or had big gaps in service,” the Straphangers said.
