Oct 30, 2007 11:09 pm US/Eastern
Awards Given For Slowest, Most Unreliable Buses
If you're always waiting for the bus, you might not be alone. Today, two awards were issued for bad bus service: the slowest and the most unreliable bus lines in town.
Every year, there's a new winner of the Pokey Award, but now, the debut of the Schleppie.
"The winner of the 2007 Schleppie award is…the M-1," announced Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign.
The new title makes the M-1 the least reliable bus in NYC, as it travels along the East Side, from the East Village to Harlem. "You have a better chance of winning the lotto than you do predicting when the M-1 is going to show up," said Russianoff.
Those who ride the winner of the Schleppie, weren't surprised.
"It's New York, what do you expect," said commuter Denise Hendrix, "you just got to go with the flow."
From flow to slow, the Pokey Award goes to the M-23, which makes its way cross-town, from Peter Cooper Village to Chelsea Piers.
"The M-23 clocks in at a slow snails pace of about 4 miles per hour, which as you know is average walking speed," said Paul Steely White of Transportation Alternatives.
They chose the pokiest line by having 13 researchers ride the buses from May to October with stopwatches. They chose the Schleppiest line by using reliability statistics from the MTA.
The Straphangers Campaign has been giving out the Pokey Awards for years, but it said things are looking hopeful with the new Department of Transportation Commissioner and the push for Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan, which would mean more than 350-million dollars for improved transit.
However, buses are still slow. But according to Jose Egipciaco, who's been behind the wheel for 23-years, you're only as fast as your slowest passenger.
"You have to deal with trucks, people crossing the street, everything. I just keep on trucking, that's all, just go with the flow, that's the name of the game," said Egipciaco.
For anyone who thinks he's got an easy job, Egipciaco says, try having a whole city depend on you.
Click to enlarge
Police: L.I. Man Sold Fireworks To Preteens 9 mins ago 
Stumble It!
