Subway VS Express Bus Which is Faster? Racing From Queens To Manhattan - Transit Battle

Today I race the QM11 bus and the (E) train from Forest Hills Queens to the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. Which mode of transit is the fastest?
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[@damnimloomin]

The bus running over the divider is literally why those bike lanes suck lol i was still shocked to see a bus just mow it down!

[@one5398]

You should report that bus route to the mta

[@Crazy-Clown-In-Town]

They should get rid of bike lanes. Bikes belong in the countryside not the city.

[@elliectroncake]

@@Crazy-Clown-In-Townyep, definitely a crazy clown

[@Moloxer]

@@Crazy-Clown-In-Town Bruh. Go see anything outside of America, bikes are everywhere in European cities and bikers here aren't in danger just because they want to have the freedom to use a harmless bike

[@Crazy-Clown-In-Town]

@@Moloxer I don’t care about European cities. Bikers in the U.S. are typically a-holes riding on sidewalks and going the opposite lane while speeding and no respect to pedestrians.

[@nickhiscock8948]

Could you do a similar one from Inwood 207 street to central Manhattan as there is both subway and express buses. I wonder which is quicker and also more comfortable?

[@jimbo1637]

I'm impressed with how well the bus held its own. If the city invested in more bus lanes, the express busses could be great.

[@unconventionalideas5683]

It seems like the fastest way would be to take the E train to Manhattan, change to the A train at the earliest opportunity, and let the A train book it to Chambers St.

[@intesaralam]

There are even faster routes I could've taken granted I wasn't intentionally being picky, I could've taken the first F gotten lucky with an R train at Queens plaza and transferred at Lexington Ave for a downtown 4/5 if I really wanted to get there fast. However I want to make the premise of this to be simple and easy for people to understand so sometimes simple is better, regardless it wouldn't have changed the outcome.

[@tasniaislam3951]

I recently moved farther away to south eastern Queens neighboring long island and I took the express bus from midtown to the last stop in Queens and it took me about 1 hour to get home. I then compared it to the LIRR and it took me just short of an hour so I'd say the LIRR is the winner from personal experience.

[@edsonfilho9429]

Very cool video and really nice editing my friend! I thought I was watching a big channel video! No doubt you’ll soon be one of them! Best regards from Brazil!

[@alk61695]

Interesting video. Some tips taking the E to WTC, always sit in the very first car as that is where the exit is. Also the best station exit to the base of the Freedom Tower is when you exit the turnstiles at the front of the station and loop around, there is a staircase that takes you right onto Vesey Street with the tower right in front of you. I feel if the Express Bus could have won if it didn't go through the Rego Park loop as you were saying. If it wasn't a race, I probably would have got off the bus at City Hall and walked to World Trade Center from there.

[@intesaralam]

Yeah I don’t dive too much into it but I had a failed attempt on the QM11 the day prior, but in my way back I decided to film a bunch of B roll and got back really quick and realized the ending location might have been too far for the bus. By then I kinda already knew the train was going to win. When I did my run on the E I wanted to give the bus a fighting chance so I wasn’t really rushing on the train. 😅

[@alk61695]

@@intesaralam yeah I get what you're saying.

[@fw3nyc]

I drive express buses and I can tell you, the train is faster. Traffic and ppl can delay the buses. But most of the ppl only take the express buses to be comfortable

[@ScottCarpman]

Nice video! Potential race idea that would allow you to include commuter rail: Citi Field to Yankee Stadium. LIRR to Metro North vs. 7 to the 4 vs. 7 to the D.

[@intesaralam]

I definitely want to do that during the subway series!

[@tdadp]

You can do wood side to grand central lirr vs 7

[@sensible8662]

it wouldn’t even be close. after the lirr goes to woodside, it goes directly to grand central. but the 7 has many more stops in queens before getting into manhattan. additionally, the lirr can operate at higher speeds, with subways being limited to 55 mph at its fastest point

[@jib123456789]

New to the channel and love it. Keep up the good work

[@EPMTUNES]

Cool video. Nice editiong

[@malikrthr1]

Cool comparison between the times the express bus and the subway reach lower Manhattan. I often compare the bxm3 bus with the 4 train between 29th st and the Bronx or the 4 train vs the Hudson or Harlem Line

[@carringtonpageiv6210]

$7! For the bus

[@qjtvaddict]

Now race express bus vs local bus to LIRR

[@TheAbxgirl]

For many its safety vs convenience Many just rather avoid the subway now even if it costs way more per day and takes longer.

[@unconventionalideas5683]

What about the subway is unsafe?

[@ahmadfrw1]

Could be the route you picked too. I use the X63 from Southeast Queens, and with the Queens Bus Redesign, it will be the QM63. There will be a QM65 to Downtown. It would call for a new race, but I will definitely beat the (E) train in both cases. In fact, it is Local bus to Subway vs EXPRESS BUS. I am pushing for the Queens Bus Redesign to be improved so that Southeast Queens has direct service connection to the (A) in Ozone Park. This way we can have 2 different races between EXPRESS BUS and Local Bus to Subway. The Southeast Queens to Downtown Race would be EXPRESS BUS - QM65 vs Local bus to the (A) train. The Southeast Queens to Midtown Race would be EXPRESS BUS - QM63 vs Local bus to the (E) train. If you ask me, the X68 mirrors the (F) line more than your QM11, and people along Union Tpke using EXPRESS BUS service have Downtown direct service, which would've been a better Downtown race (LOCAL BUS to SUBWAY vs EXPRESS BUS).

[@intesaralam]

When I was planning I wanted to pick 2 major locations where I thought the travel time would be about equal. If I made a slight tweak to the ending location like City Hall for example it might have been closer as I could’ve gotten off at the first stop in the downtown loop. As for the redesign, I’m hoping it can add some new options, this challenge really relies on redundancy to work.

[@ahmadfrw1]

@@intesaralam Yeah, but that's not the only "critical" race. You have a valid race between Jamaica Center and The Bronx zoo bus vs Subway (bus --> Q44 SBS vs Subway --> (E) to (2) then walk). Forest Hills to Downtown Brooklyn has 2 races (LIRR vs Subway; LIRR with transfers in Jamaica, sub in Q60 if you miss the scheduled LIRR, vs Subway: (option a) is (E) to Court Square and transfer to (G), and (option b) is (E) to Sutphin/Archer, transfer to (J)/(Z) to Broadway Junction and transfer to (A) to Hoyt - Schemerhorn). Forest Hills to the Rockaways has 3 different races (LIRR, Subway to bus --> (E) to Jamaica Center and transfer to Q113/Q114, and bus --> Q23 to Woodhaven Blvd and transfer to Q52/Q53 SBS).

[@42luke93]

Midtown express busses are always going to be the fastest. I wish from the verazanno bridge kf Brooklyn vicinity it didn't take an hour to get to nyc. Subway should be faster. X37 beats it.

[@juniors2sexy]

It also depends on environmental factors weather, traffic , holidays school closed schedules

[@intesaralam]

Yes this is by no means a scientific experiment, just something I did for fun.

[@YourSpicyBurrito]

My subway, the (7) usually sucks and so does the Q65 which is why I had to start taking the QM2 or QM20 buses into the city. Beats the subway.

[@dijikstra8]

The bus only having one door seems like a strange choice, can really slow things down in rush hour.

[@intesaralam]

These buses don’t operate like a normal buses, they only pick up in one area then operate to another area non stop. From there they only drop off passengers. There is almost no turnover so you don’t have passengers boarding alighting at the same time.

[@Will_Bx_NYC_718]

I’m team express bus. Much. Ore comfortable and no junkies, homeless or people begging for money.

[@theestallion818]

Trains are always if there is no heavy traffic on highways the buses would be fine too

[@rdbarne]

I founded the QM5 from Fresh Meadows would run faster in the morning when going into midtown but the F train was always the better option in the afternoon rush due to the insane traffic going back out to Queens. I live in Flushing now and the 7 is still a better option than the QM2

[@dubreil07]

If you live next to a subway it’s most likely going to be the subway since you have to wait 20 minutes for an express bus at times. The express also doesn’t stop by many subway stops once it leaves the boroughs so you might have to walk home compared to being next to the subway. I live next to the Q but the express bus stop is a 7-10 minute walk away from me

[@intesaralam]

It's definitely tricky to make an accurate determination because everyone lives in different places, but my goal is to have races where the travel time is expected to be similar. Because when you look into most people commute it's pretty obvious which most of transit is the fastest. So for me, I'm specifically interested in cases where the travel times between each mode may be uncertain and can go either way.

[@ratuldeoun7228]

Even if the Express Bus won, it would've only been about a 10 minute difference. I would say that's not worth paying $7.00 over the $2.90 fare for the Subway. Better to leave earlier to get to your destination and save yourself $4.10. 😊

[@intesaralam]

To each their own, it really comes down to what you value in your commute.

[@kellenmallon4143]

I work for.the MTA I drive the Q11

[@lightning77125]

You should do A train vs 3 train: Harlem-125 St to Fulton St. Who do you think wins? I'd say 3 for sure.

[@Bobby_Duku]

Or the 2 train

[@farrockqns3759]

Was this 2 different days cause the QM11 bus you first got on number was 1328 and one was 1344..and if it’s mot to much can you do the Qm17 and the A train from far rock cause those are both my lines and I usually do the express bus but sometimes I do the A as well from rockaway *no need to answer my question I saw the video to the end

[@intesaralam]

So before and after the race I go an film additional "b-roll" footage on different days, this way I have some more footage then me just staring at my watch going "oooh will I make it there first?" Also that way during the race I'm not focused on filming as much so I don't get overwhelmed.

[@farrockqns3759]

@@intesaralam oh ok I got you bro I been watching so far and love the content keep it up

[@tdadp]

They bus was a nicer ride

[@tlove3840]

You could have came out a different exit instead of coming through that new building and you would have got to that same Point faster

[@tlove3840]

With the express bus even if it's rush hour we still get a seat can sit down and relax and get right off at that point and don't have to walk any stairs

[@KenanTurkiye]

Is my content the reason why my messages are getting blocked by YT?

[@phil4863]

Anyone remember when the fare was 2.25?

[@chaimweinstock]

y is your face covered like a robber