Friday, November 6, 2009

Queens has some very slow buses

Q56, Q32 buses win dubious honor as Queens' slowest
By Philip Newman, Times Ledger

The Straphangers Campaign is out with its annual Pokey Awards for the city’s slowest buses and the Q56 and Q32 have won the laggard sweepstakes for Queens.

The transit advocacy group presented its eighth annual Pokey worst-in-show recognition to the M42, the transit system’s slowest bus, clocked at an average “speed” of 3.7 mph.

“A 5-year-old on a motorized tricycle would outpace the M42,” the Straphangers’ report said.

The Straphangers also presented a new citation, the Trekkie, in recognition of the bus with the longest running time. It went to the M4, which takes nearly two hours from midtown Manhattan to Upper Manhattan.

As for the Q56, it averages 6.3 mph to run from Jamaica to East New York in Brooklyn.

The Q32 chalks up a running time of one hour and 27 traveling from Jackson Heights and Penn Station.

Photo by Kriston Lewis on Flickr

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have traffic agents write double parkers and bus stops..........not meters..............

Anonymous said...

Wow someone discovered the slow buses to Queens? Were luck we have some buses, what Pols tell me and lucky they don't take them away.

Anonymous said...

Not the MTA's fault. Between bus-stop parkers and the number of people who drive into Manhattan, there's no way these buses can stay on schedule.

Kevin Walsh said...

You may as well walk from Penn Station to Queens and you can beat the 32, it's that slow. When there are options like the PW branch to Woodside and then the #7 (admittedly a double fare) or the #1/2/3 then #7, you wonder why anyone does.

www.forgotten-ny.com

Anonymous said...

You can make lots more money from traffic agents writing tickets than from parking meters. If we made the lawbreakers pay for their infractions, Czar Bloomberg wouldn't have to raise our taxes and traffic would move.

Anonymous said...

Everything is slow out here, from our Beep to our community boards and a good deal of our civics.

The only thing sharp are the developers.

Anonymous said...

There simply is no good public transit in Queens.

I live in Glendale and work in Midtown Manhattan. Thats less than 8 miles.


If i walk 12 blocks to the M, transfer to the Q/N... it takes almost exactly one hour.


If i walk two blocks, take the Q55, to the L, to the Q/N...it takes almost exactly one hour.


If i walk two blocks and take the QM24, which is basically door-to-door service... it takes almost exactly one hour.


There simply is no avoiding the shit-show that is queens transit.



The QM24 would have potential if it didnt zig-zag through the entire borough like a snake on acid before deciding to hop on the highway.

Anonymous said...

Are there awards for the most inefficient or most unnecessary buses? If so, I nominate the Q100, which runs w/o stops from Queensbridge to Rikers. This bus runs EVERY 10 OR 15 MINUTES THROUGHOUT THE DAY, and aside from rush hours/shift changes it is mostly empty.

Why do we need an express bus to Rikers every 15 minutes?

Anonymous said...

One idea to speed buses being used in many other cities is to create priority bus-only lanes. This often involves removing some on-street parking or a general travel lane. Try that here....and watch the wailing begin!

Sorry, you can't have it both ways folks!

Anonymous said...

GREAT NEWS!!!

The Bus Situation in Queens will likely improve dramatically in the next few years.

The Head of the Transportation Committee for the last eight years has been Queens Resident John C. Liu.

Now that he will be busy destroying the economy of the entire city he won't remain focused on screwing up the transportation system in Queens alone.

Anonymous said...

"Now that he (John Liu) will be busy destroying the economy of the entire city he won't remain focused on screwing up the transportation system in Queens alone."


How true! Union Street between Whitestone and Northern Boulevard has become a nightmare due to Liu's giving his developer friends free reign. All of the one and two family homes on the west side of the street have been replaced by apartment buildings with retail space on the street level. There is not enough parking and traffic backs up along that route during rush hours. With new construction taking place in the neighborhood, the problem can only grow worse, no matter who is in charge. Thanks Liu. Now you can screw up the rest of the boroughs. And he won by a landslide...without even campaigning! He is going to be the best comptroller that money can buy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PizzaBagel said...

Why do we need an express bus to Rikers every 15 minutes?

The MTA knows that if it were to decrease service on the Q100 it would have to suffer the wrath of Reverend Al with cries of "This be a outrage!"

Anonymous said...

People who are disabled and/or elderly, appreciate being able to take the bus, since most subway stations are NOT accessible; the new/newer buses ARE accessible. Eppie

You may as well walk from Penn Station to Queens and you can beat the 32, it's that slow. When there are options like the PW branch to Woodside and then the #7 (admittedly a double fare) or the #1/2/3 then #7, you wonder why anyone does.

www.forgotten-ny.com

Friday, November 06, 2009

Anonymous said...

Re Q100, Anonymous info is out of date. On Feb 1, 2009, nine months ago, the Q100 gained three stops along 21 Street - Astoria Blvd, 30 Ave, and Broadway. People waiting for the Q69 (formerly Q19A) were incensed that the Q100 (formerly Q101R) would sail by while crowds were waiting for the 69/19A. Instead of improving the service on the Q69, the MTA added express stops to the Q100; at least now there is more service along 21 Street. Also, with the stop at Broadway, for the students at LIC HS (which basically runs triple shift), the Q100 has become a school bus; it is never empty. Also, the Q69 has no service between 1am and 5am, while the Q100 runs 24 hrs (tho only every hour from midnight to 5am). Some people work nights, y'know. So check your facts Anon, unless you like the taste of shoe leather. Eppie


Anonymous said...Are there awards for the most inefficient or most unnecessary buses? If so, I nominate the Q100, which runs w/o stops from Queensbridge to Rikers. This bus runs EVERY 10 OR 15 MINUTES THROUGHOUT THE DAY, and aside from rush hours/shift changes it is mostly empty. Why do we need an express bus to Rikers every 15 minutes? Friday, November 06, 2009

Gary the Agnostic said...

The Q100 is there because people who ride the Q101 didn't want to ride the same bus as people going to and from Rikers Island.

Anonymous said...

Please don't start demanding that traffic agents start writing for double parking and parking in bus stops. You all piss and moan when the "incompetent" brownie writes you for "just parking for a minute" waiting to pick up granny, so please stop talking out of both sides of your mouths. Judging by all the complaints I have seen here about parking tickets, the traffic agents are doing their jobs, but it is only ok when they are writing someone else besides you.

Queens Crapper said...

Parking in a bus stop to go shopping and parking in a bus stop to help your grandmother to the car are two different things. Like police officers, brownies have something called discretion.

Christina Wilkinson said...

The parking agents are not doing their jobs. I stepped in on Thursday when I saw a traffic agent issuing a ticket to a car whose driver was at the munimeter buying the receipt to put in the car.

I guess you agree with that kind of "enforcement" which the rest of us call "harassment".

Anonymous said...

No Christina, I am just tired of the double talk. We demand that traffic agents write tickets for parking violations, and rightfully so. But then we get angry and call it harassment, overzealousness and filling a quota when WE get a ticket. People here seem to think that everyone else should get a ticket except for them, because they are the only ones with a good reason for parking illegally, and the traffic agent should have known that. We are either for blanket enforcement, or we are not. Trust me, I am no fan of traffic agents, but they are out there doing a very unpopular job. We may not like it, but just the very fact that people here constantly complain about getting parking tickets proves that they are out there doing their jobs.

Queens Crapper said...

I don't recall anyone here getting upset when they justifiably got a ticket.

Anonymous said...

Crapper, over the past few months, I have read plenty of comments here from people complaining about summonses they feel they didn't deserve. I won't sit here and defend every ticket that the brownies write, but if any of us walked through any part of Queens with a book of parking summonses during any given day, we could have the entire book finished within an hour or two, and not have to resort to any questionable means to do so. And for every summons written, most people would have a sob story about only being there for a minute etc.