Averaging 3.9 miles an hour on weekdays at midday — roughly the pace of a strolling pedestrian — the M14A bus took the unglamorous title of New York City’s slowest bus route at the Straphanger’s Campaign and Transportation Alternatives annual Pokey Awards yesterday.

The crosstown bus, which travels between the East and West Villages along 14th Street, beat out the perennial Pokey Award winner, the M34, which came in second.

New York City has the slowest-moving buses in the country, and its 2.5 million riders a day “deserve better,” the executive director of Transportation Alternatives, Paul Steely White, said.

“We believe that faster bus service enhances the productivity of riders, enhances businesses, and gives a push to the economy,” the staff attorney for the Straphangers Campaign, Gene Russianoff, said.

The M14A was awarded its title after five volunteers from the Straphangers Campaign tested 23 of the city’s slowest-moving routes between July and October. The volunteers boarded the first buses departing from terminuses after 12 p.m. and timed a trip in both directions.

The transit watchdog groups yesterday debuted “The Unreliables” — a list of 18 bus lines on which more than 20% of buses arrive in bunches and depart off-schedule. The M1 line, which travels to Harlem from the East Village along Fifth and Madison avenues, topped the list, with 27.6% of its buses arriving irregularly. The percentages were calculated using Transit Authority statistics on bus schedule adherence.

“Bus bunches completely infuriate New Yorkers,” Mr Russianoff said, referring to the arrival of two or more buses after an extended, bus-less wait. “Twenty-percent unreliability is a very poor level of service.”

“The M1 totally sucks,” commuter Susan Slocum said while riding the bus uptown yesterday afternoon. “It often just doesn’t come, but the only other commuting option would mean more walking.”

The MTA’s Capital Plan has set aside $21.9 million for bus rapid transit initiatives through 2009. But the transit watchdog groups maintain that the figure is too low to alleviate slow bus service. Mr. White proposed creating wider bus lanes, installing cameras aboard buses to enforce bus-only lanes, beginning satellite tracking of buses, and introducing pre-boarding fare payment.

In response to the Pokey Awards, the MTA issued a statement saying: “The bus routes cited by the Straphanger’s report operate in conditions of severe traffic congestion. Slow and unreliable bus service is very much a product of the city’s vibrancy.”

Last week, theVillageVoice awarded its “Best Bus” award to the M14A — not for its speediness but for the scenic route, which passes by many famous food shops. It’s fun for tourists, perhaps, but less exciting for daily commuters. “I often walk to avoid the bus,” commuter Jamie Lew said.