Slow and steady may win the race, but a snail's speed gets bus riders on the M-23 crosstown just faster than a walking pace, transportation groups said Tuesday.The Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives gave the crosstown bus the sixth-annual Pokey Award, a snail atop a trophy, for its speed of 4 miles-per-hour at noon one weekday, a notch up from the average walking speed of 3 miles-per-hour.The M-1 earned the groups' newest award, the Schleppie, for most unreliable service with one-third of its buses having big gaps in service or running off schedule. "Our awards highlight what bus riders know from bitter daily experience: New York City has the pokiest and schleppiest buses in the nation," Straphangers spokesman Gene Russianoff said in a statement.The M-23 connects Avenue C to the Chelsea Piers via 23rd Street and the M-1 connects Harlem and the East Village.While Manhattan buses swept the award categories this year, the pokiest buses in each borough are: B-63 at 4.9 mph, Bx-19 at 5 mph, Q-56 at 6.1 mph and S-61 at 11.7 mph.Other Scheppie buses by borough were: B-15, Bx-41, S-78. No Queens buses qualified for the title.New York City Transit is working on improving bus service in at least one pilot program that uses satellite tracking of buses that notify passengers when the next bus will arrive with electric bus stop signs.