Q24, Q32 awarded trophy for slowest travel in Queens
Times Ledger
By Philip Newman

[ Return to T.A. Quotes in the Media | Read the latest news on transit | View this article on the Times Ledger Web site ]

The Q24 and Q32 have been cited as the slowest buses in Queens in the third annual "Pokeys" awards for buses that take longest to reach their destinations. The winner gets a gold snail trophy.

"Many city buses move at a maddening crawl," said Gene Russianoff, attorney for the transit advocacy agency Straphangers Campaign.

The Straphangers and Transportation Alternatives, sponsors of the Third annual "Pokeys" awards, gave first prize to the Q34, a crosstown route in Manhattan. It averages four miles an hour.

The Q24, which runs between Jamaica and Bushwick, and the Q32, which travels between Jackson Heights and Penn Station, both average 6.9 mph.

The two transit advocacy groups said they had discovered that the weekday scheduled running time for several city bus routes is as slow or slower than most regular scheduled Amtrak trains from New York to Philadelphia.

They said the M15 from downtown Manhattan to 126th Street can take one hour and 31 minutes. The M15 is scheduled to leave South Ferry at 5:03 p.m. and is scheduled to arrive in East Harlem at 6:34 p.m.

By comparison, weekday afternoon runs of New York to Philadelphia Amtrak regular service are scheduled for as little as one hour and 15 minutes.

Among other Queens buses that take longer than a train trip to Philadelphia:

Q44 Limited - 1:22 minutes from Jamaica to Bronx Park South. Q54 - One hour and 16 minutes from Jamaica to Williamsburg Bridge Plaza

Some other Queens buses and their average "speeds": Q20 7.4 mph Jamaica to Bronx Park South; Q42 7.4 mph Saint Albans to Jamaica Center; Q56 7.1 mph Jamaica to East New York; Q58 7 mph Ridgewood to Flushing; Q24 6.9 mph Jamaica to Bushwick; Q32 6.9 mph Jackson Heights to Penn Station; Q48 8.9 mph Flushing to La Guardia Airport; Q12 8.8 mph Little Neck to Flushing; Q15 8.7 mph Beechhurst to Flushing; Q85 8.5 mph Green Acres Mall to Jamaica; Q17 8.3 mph Flushing to Jamaica; Q83 8.2 mph Queens Village to Jamaica; Q55 8l.1 mph Ridgewood to Richmond Hill; Q74 8.1 mph Queens Gardens to Queens College; Q2 8 mph Queens Village and Jamaica; Q54 7.7 Jamaica to Williamsburg Bridge Plaza.

Entire list: www.straphangers.com 

[ Return to T.A. Quotes in the Media | Read the latest news on transit | View this article on the Times Ledger Web site ]