From Chelsea To LES, The M14A Runs Slower Than A Manatee

EAST VILLAGE, NY — The M14A route, which runs from Chelsea Piers across town to the Lower East Side, clocked in slower than a manatee, according to a new report.

The M14A was the "winner" of transportation groups' "Pokey Award" as the slowest bus among 60 high-ridership buses analyzed in a new report. The M14A averaged 4.3 miles per hour — slower than a manatee, which often swim about 5 mph, according to the analysis issued by NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign and TransitCenter.

"Riders on high-ridership routes endure bus service that barely moves faster than walking," Mary Buchanan, a research associate at TransitCenter, said in a statement.

The Department of Transportation is planned to speed up service along the notoriously snail-paced bus route with dedicated bus lanes and select bus service, which was implemented this month for both the M14A and M14D. The city wants to bar cars from 14th Street — the congested crosstown section of the M14A's route. But those street changes are currently in the midst of a legal battle with Chelsea, West Village and Flatiron neighbors opposed to the efforts aimed at speeding up bus speeds.

Jaqi Cohen, TransitCenter's campaign director for the Straphangers, welcomed the SBS changes along the route — which allow for all-door boarding and ticketing at fare machines on sidewalks.

But, Cohen added: "Still, there is no better way to speed up service along the route than by rolling out the red carpet for bus riders with a dedicated busway."

Here's the slowest, high-ridership buses in each borough, according to the groups' analysis:

Brooklyn: B35, 4.8 mph between Brownsville and Sunset Park
Bronx: Bx19, 4.8 mph between New York Botanical Garden, Bronx and Riverbank Park, Manhattan
Manhattan: M14A, 4.3 mph between the Lower East Side and Chelsea Piers
Queens: Q54, 6.4 mph between Jamaica, Queens and Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Staten Island: S48, 7.8 mph between St. George and Mariners Harbor

Despite the pokey speeds among these bus routes, none of the slowest routes have worsened in the past year, per Straphangers. All routes are about .1 mph faster.

In Manhattan, the M11, which runs between Greenwich Village and Harlem or Riverbank Park, was awarded the "Schleppie Award" — earning the borough's top slot for how often buses "bunch," or when two buses pull up to a stop at the same time. The analysis found the M11 had 14 percent of buses "bunched" along the north-to-south route.

Brooklyn's B15 took number one for most unreliable bus, with 20 percent of its buses arriving "bunched."

"Our findings highlight what many city bus riders already riders know from daily commuting," said Gene Russianoff, senior attorney for the NYPIRG Straphangers
Campaign. "Despite significant bus improvements in recent years, far too many riders still suffer slow and unreliable bus service."