B38 Bus: Riders, Speed & Reliability
Ridgewood - Downtown Brooklyn · Local · Report card from MTA open data, October 2025 – September 2026 · Not affiliated with the MTA · Live bus times on MTA Bus Time →
How busy is the B38?
Average riders per hour on weekdays, Aug 26, 2026 – Oct 20, 2026. Riders are paid entries (OMNY taps and MetroCard swipes), so people who board without paying aren't counted; riders a day covers October 2025 – September 2026.
The B38 carries about 8,604 riders a day (October 2025 – September 2026), #18 of 339 NYC bus routes. On weekdays it is busiest around 8 AM, with about 898 riders that hour.
Busiest stops
MTA estimates for September 2026 from passenger counters on the buses, both directions. They count everyone who boards, so they can run higher than fare-based ridership.
| Stop | Boardings on an average weekday |
|---|---|
| Fulton St/Smith St | 815 |
| Fulton St/Bond St | 707 |
| Fulton St/Ashland Pl | 680 |
| De Kalb Av/Malcolm X Blvd | 642 |
| Lafayette Av/Bedford Av | 468 |
Speed and reliability
October 2025 – September 2026. Speed includes time at stops and lights. "Spacing" is the MTA's wait assessment: the gap between buses stays within a few minutes of schedule.
It averages 6.2 mph on weekdays, #210 fastest of 262 local and Select Bus routes, down from 6.3 mph the year before. 69.3% of its trips kept to their scheduled spacing (the MTA's "wait assessment"; local routes overall: 72.1%), and 96.4% of scheduled buses actually ran.
| B38 | All local and SBS routes | |
|---|---|---|
| Average weekday speed | 6.2 mph | 7.5 mph |
| Trips that kept their scheduled spacing | 69.3% | 72.1% |
| Scheduled buses that actually ran | 96.4% | 94% |
| Extra time at stops vs schedule | 2.4 min | – |
| Extra time on board vs schedule | 0.1 min | – |
| Bus-lane camera violations (12 months) | 9,184 | 2,864,642 |
Bus cameras on the B38 issued about 9,184 violations to vehicles blocking its bus lanes or stops in the last 12 months.
Other Brooklyn routes
All routes B6 B41 B1 B35 B82 B8 B46-SBS B68 B46 B9 B63 B3 B44 B44-SBS B36 B103 B82-SBS B62 B15 B11 B52 B61 B49 B26 B43 B12 B57 B70 B54 B4 B17 B47 B60 B25 B64 B13 B16 B100 B67 B83 B20 B69 B7 B45 B48 B74 B65 B14 B31 B24 B37 B2 B32 B42 B84 B39
Questions
How many people ride the B38 bus?
The B38 carries about 8,604 riders a day (October 2025 – September 2026), #18 of 339 NYC bus routes.
When is the B38 busiest?
On weekdays it is busiest around 8 AM, with about 898 riders that hour.
How fast is the B38 bus?
It averages 6.2 mph on weekdays, #210 fastest of 262 local and Select Bus routes, down from 6.3 mph the year before.
Is the B38 bus reliable?
69.3% of its trips kept to their scheduled spacing (the MTA's "wait assessment"; local routes overall: 72.1%), and 96.4% of scheduled buses actually ran.
How many bus-lane tickets are issued on the B38?
Bus cameras on the B38 issued about 9,184 violations to vehicles blocking its bus lanes or stops in the last 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).