I was on my way to a dinner party in the West Village last week when I made the decision to take an M14 bus crosstown from 1st Avenue. I figured that taking the L train would be a crapshoot, and I could always walk west while I’m waiting for a bus.
Just as I was about to cross 14th Street, the light changed, and an M14 bus pulled away from the 1st Avenue stop. I decided that I would just pound the pavement and head towards Union Square, and eventually, another bus would come. Seems logical, right?
Well, it shouldn’t, because I had clearly forgotten that the M14 bus is the slowest bus in New York.
I got to Union Square, and not a single bus had come by yet. In the opposite direction, two M14 buses passed me going east. At this point, I’m practically halfway there, I figure, so why stop and take the subway now?
I keep walking. Fifth Avenue, no bus. Sixth Avenue, no bus. Seventh Avenue, no bus. Between Seventh and Eighth Avenue, a sixth bus passed me in the other direction. At this point, it started to rain, and I weasn’t wearing a coat. So, I walked a little faster.
At Eighth Avenue, I cut down and across on Jane Street to get to Hudson Street. I crossed Hudson and looked to my right: waiting at the traffic light was the very same M14 bus that I watched pull away at First Avenue.
I made it clear across Manhattan by foot faster than the M14 bus.
5 Comments
Monday, May 7, 2007 at 12:30 pm
i think you’d be hard pressed to find any crosstown bus that you can’t beat on foot. . .except maybe the ones that cut through the park. maybe they’d be faster if we had some congestion pricing going on downtown. . .
Monday, May 7, 2007 at 11:59 pm
It’s terrible. I walked from Union Square to Avenue C and NO eastbound bus went by me as I walked. This was 8:15-8:30 in the morning on a weekday – basically the busiest time of the day for commuters.
I counted 25 people waiting for the bus Sunday afternoon at Union Square.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007 at 4:20 pm
also um a “dinner party in the west village”? faggot. wait, fancy faggot.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007 at 5:01 pm
Go to places (all outside the US) where most people actually rely on the buses to get to place to place, and you find lots of small buses, with their routes clearly marked on the bus itself, that go really fast.
The MTA approach to bus service seems to be some weird experiment in just how badly you can run buses until no one uses them. Recently, you can say the same for the subways too.
Friday, May 11, 2007 at 2:35 pm
i lived in stuyvestant for a bit last year, and at least twice a week i would see up to 6 M23 busses heading west as i trudged from 6th avenue to 1st avenue. it was infuritiating, even though it’s not a bad walk and walking is probably faster and more comfortable than a cross-town bus. unless it’s raining, i will always walk over cross-towns. except for the M86 and M96, those are fast through the park.