NYC Bus Routes: Busiest, Slowest & Least Reliable
Report cards for every NYC bus route from MTA open data, October 2025 – September 2026 · Not affiliated with the MTA
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Type a route (M15, Bx12, B46, SIM22…) or a street.
Busiest bus routes
The busiest NYC bus route is the M15-SBS bus (East Harlem - South Ferry), with about 19,063 riders a day (October 2025 – September 2026), followed by the Q25 (14,161) and the Q44-SBS (13,707).
| # | Route | Riders a day | Avg speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M15-SBS East Harlem - South Ferry | 19,063 | 7.7 mph |
| 2 | Q25 College Point - Jamaica | 14,161 | 7.3 mph |
| 3 | Q44-SBS Bronx Zoo - Jamaica | 13,707 | 9.4 mph |
| 4 | B6 Bath Beach - East New York | 13,242 | 7.5 mph |
| 5 | M15 East Harlem - South Ferry | 12,239 | 6.3 mph |
| 6 | Q58 Ridgewood - Flushing | 11,484 | 7.4 mph |
| 7 | M86-SBS Yorkville - West Side | 11,433 | 5.9 mph |
| 8 | Bx12-SBS Bay Plaza - Inwood | 11,365 | 9.2 mph |
| 9 | M101 East Village - Fort George | 10,759 | 6.3 mph |
| 10 | Q27 Cambria Heights - Flushing | 9,496 | 9.8 mph |
| 11 | M14D-SBS Lower East Side - Chelsea Piers | 9,304 | 6.1 mph |
| 12 | M4 The Cloisters - 32 St | 9,300 | 5.5 mph |
| 13 | B41 Kings Plaza - Downtown Brooklyn | 9,183 | 6.6 mph |
| 14 | B1 Bay Ridge - Manhattan Beach | 9,097 | 6.9 mph |
| 15 | Q60 Queens Blvd. - East Midtown | 9,096 | 7.3 mph |
Slowest bus routes
Local, limited and Select Bus Service routes. Express buses are left out because they mostly run on highways.
The slowest bus route is the M57 bus (East Side - West Side), averaging 4.7 mph on weekdays, barely faster than a brisk walk. Local and Select Bus Service routes average 7.5 mph.
| Route | Avg weekday speed | Riders a day |
|---|---|---|
| M57 East Side - West Side | 4.7 mph | 4,443 |
| M50 W 42 St Pier - East Side | 4.8 mph | 1,480 |
| M31 Yorkville - Clinton | 4.9 mph | 6,630 |
| M42 United Nations - W 42 St Pier | 4.9 mph | 5,908 |
| M34A-SBS Waterside - Port Authority Terminal | 5.2 mph | 3,855 |
| M34-SBS East Side - Javits Center | 5.3 mph | 4,037 |
| M96 East Side - West Side | 5.4 mph | 7,907 |
| M66 East Side - Lincoln Center | 5.4 mph | 4,651 |
| Bx35 George Washington Bridge-West Farms Road | 5.4 mph | 3,812 |
| M125 Manhattanville - The Hub | 5.4 mph | 3,603 |
| M106 East Harlem - West Side | 5.4 mph | 1,133 |
| M4 The Cloisters - 32 St | 5.5 mph | 9,300 |
| M3 Fort George - East Village | 5.5 mph | 7,510 |
| B35 Brownsville - Sunset Park | 5.6 mph | 8,958 |
| M11 Riverbank Park & Harlem - West Village | 5.6 mph | 7,225 |
Least reliable bus routes
Routes with 2,000+ riders a day. All local and SBS routes: 72.1% of trips kept their scheduled spacing.
| Route | Trips that kept their spacing | Riders a day |
|---|---|---|
| Q56 Broadway Junction - Jamaica | 56.3% | 2,826 |
| M103 East Harlem - City Hall | 59% | 6,074 |
| B25 Dwntn Bklyn & DUMBO - Broadway Junction | 59.4% | 2,973 |
| B62 Astoria - Downtown Brooklyn | 59.8% | 5,160 |
| Q24 Bedford Stuyvesant - Jamaica | 61.1% | 2,476 |
| B16 Bay Ridge - Lefferts Gardens | 61.2% | 2,838 |
| M102 Harlem - East Village | 61.3% | 6,594 |
| B35 Brownsville - Sunset Park | 61.4% | 8,958 |
| M101 East Village - Fort George | 61.6% | 10,759 |
| Bx15 Fordham Plaza - The Hub | 62% | 3,067 |
| B49 Manhattan Beach - Bedford-Stuyvesant | 62.2% | 4,676 |
| B12 Lefferts Gardens - East New York | 62.2% | 3,837 |
| B83 Spring Creek - Broadway Junction | 62.8% | 2,225 |
| B15 Bedford Stuyvesant - JFK AirTrain | 63.1% | 4,976 |
| B8 Dyker Heights - East Flatbush | 63.7% | 7,637 |
Most bus-lane camera violations
Cameras on buses ticket vehicles parked or driving in bus lanes and at bus stops.
Bus-lane and bus-stop cameras issued about 2,864,642 violations over the same 12 months.
Every route
Bronx
Bx1 Bx2 Bx3 Bx4 Bx4A Bx5 Bx6 Bx6-SBS Bx7 Bx8 Bx9 Bx10 Bx11 Bx12 Bx12-SBS Bx13 Bx15 Bx16 Bx17 Bx18A Bx18B Bx19 Bx20 Bx21 Bx22 Bx23 Bx24 Bx25 Bx26 Bx27 Bx28 Bx29 Bx30 Bx31 Bx32 Bx33 Bx34 Bx35 Bx36 Bx38 Bx39 Bx40 Bx41 Bx41-SBS Bx42 Bx46
Brooklyn
B1 B2 B3 B4 B6 B7 B8 B9 B11 B12 B13 B14 B15 B16 B17 B20 B24 B25 B26 B31 B32 B35 B36 B37 B38 B39 B41 B42 B43 B44 B44-SBS B45 B46 B46-SBS B47 B48 B49 B52 B54 B57 B60 B61 B62 B63 B64 B65 B67 B68 B69 B70 B74 B82 B82-SBS B83 B84 B100 B103
Express
Express (Bronx)
BxM1 BxM2 BxM3 BxM4 BxM6 BxM7 BxM8 BxM9 BxM10 BxM11 BxM18
Express (Brooklyn)
Express (Queens)
QM1 QM2 QM4 QM5 QM6 QM7 QM8 QM10 QM11 QM12 QM15 QM16 QM17 QM18 QM20 QM21 QM24 QM25 QM31 QM32 QM34 QM35 QM36 QM40 QM42 QM44 QM63 QM64 QM65 QM68
Express (Staten Island)
SIM1 SIM1C SIM2 SIM3 SIM3C SIM4 SIM4C SIM5 SIM6 SIM7 SIM8 SIM9 SIM10 SIM11 SIM15 SIM22 SIM23 SIM24 SIM25 SIM26 SIM30 SIM31 SIM32 SIM33 SIM33C SIM34 SIM35
Manhattan
M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M7 M8 M9 M10 M11 M12 M14A-SBS M14D-SBS M15 M15-SBS M20 M21 M22 M23-SBS M31 M34-SBS M34A-SBS M35 M42 M50 M55 M57 M60-SBS M66 M72 M79-SBS M86-SBS M96 M98 M100 M101 M102 M103 M104 M106 M116 M125
Queens
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 Q19 Q20 Q22 Q23 Q24 Q25 Q26 Q27 Q28 Q29 Q30 Q31 Q32 Q33 Q35 Q36 Q37 Q38 Q39 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q44-SBS Q45 Q46 Q47 Q48 Q49 Q50 Q51 Q52-SBS Q53-SBS Q54 Q55 Q56 Q58 Q59 Q60 Q61 Q63 Q64 Q65 Q66 Q67 Q69 Q72 Q74 Q75 Q76 Q77 Q80 Q82 Q83 Q84 Q85 Q86 Q87 Q88 Q89 Q90 Q98 Q100 Q101 Q102 Q103 Q104 Q110 Q111 Q112 Q113 Q114 Q115
Staten Island
S40 S42 S44 S46 S48 S51 S52 S53 S54 S55 S56 S57 S59 S61 S62 S66 S74 S76 S78 S79-SBS S81 S84 S89 S90 S91 S92 S93 S94 S96 S98
Questions
What is the busiest bus route in NYC?
The busiest NYC bus route is the M15-SBS bus (East Harlem - South Ferry), with about 19,063 riders a day (October 2025 – September 2026), followed by the Q25 (14,161) and the Q44-SBS (13,707).
What is the slowest bus in NYC?
The slowest bus route is the M57 bus (East Side - West Side), averaging 4.7 mph on weekdays, barely faster than a brisk walk. Local and Select Bus Service routes average 7.5 mph.
How many people ride NYC buses?
NYC buses carry about 1,017,186 riders a day across 339 routes.
How many bus-lane camera tickets does NYC issue?
Bus-lane and bus-stop cameras issued about 2,864,642 violations over the same 12 months.
More NYC transit data
- NYC subway ridership: Busiest stations, find your station and an animated subway map, updated daily.
- NYC congestion pricing: Zone map, hours, cost and daily data on whether it's working.
- Every subway line ranked: Which line is the worst? On-time rates, delays and a report card for each line.
Let's talk about transit data
Found something surprising about your station? Have a question the data could answer, or an idea for what to dig into next (congestion pricing, a train line, an event)? I'd love to hear it, and I'm always up for talking about transit data.
Data (data.ny.gov): Bus Hourly Ridership, Bus Speeds, Wait Assessment, Service Delivered, Customer Journey Metrics, Stop Ridership Estimates, Camera Enforcement Violations. Updated Oct 28, 2026. The MTA's own charts: metrics.mta.info.
Source code: github.com/MantieReid/mta-data-analysis · Analysis by Mantie Reid II (CC BY 4.0).