Q98 Bus: Riders, Speed & Reliability
Ridgewood - Flushing · Limited · 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 Q98?
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 Q98 carries about 5,198 riders a day (October 2025 – September 2026), #66 of 339 NYC bus routes. On weekdays it is busiest around 7 AM, with about 594 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 |
|---|---|
| Grand Av/Queens Blvd | 882 |
| Sanford Av/Main St | 874 |
| Palmetto St/St Nicholas Av | 582 |
| Sanford Av/Main St | 544 |
| Horace Harding Expwy/108 St | 492 |
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 8 mph on weekdays, #110 fastest of 262 local and Select Bus routes, up from 7.9 mph the year before. 68.1% of its trips kept to their scheduled spacing (the MTA's "wait assessment"; local routes overall: 72.1%), and 90.2% of scheduled buses actually ran.
| Q98 | All local and SBS routes | |
|---|---|---|
| Average weekday speed | 8 mph | 7.5 mph |
| Trips that kept their scheduled spacing | 68.1% | 72.1% |
| Scheduled buses that actually ran | 90.2% | 94% |
| Extra time at stops vs schedule | 3.7 min | – |
| Extra time on board vs schedule | 1.5 min | – |
| Bus-lane camera violations (12 months) | – | 2,864,642 |
Other Queens routes
All routes Q25 Q44-SBS Q58 Q27 Q60 Q17 Q26 Q53-SBS Q20 Q65 Q23 Q12 Q54 Q32 Q69 Q49 Q10 Q18 Q88 Q47 Q43 Q66 Q14 Q46 Q63 Q80 Q64 Q59 Q28 Q55 Q33 Q11 Q83 Q72 Q13 Q37 Q3 Q45 Q29 Q4 Q110 Q15 Q1 Q5 Q111 Q41 Q56 Q52-SBS Q114 Q76 Q101 Q85 Q100 Q39 Q2 Q19 Q112 Q24 Q31 Q16 Q50 Q74 Q77 Q30 Q48 Q115 Q38 Q22 Q84 Q40 Q35 Q61 Q113 Q104 Q86 Q67 Q75 Q103 Q36 Q89 Q87 Q51 Q82 Q90 Q102 Q42
Questions
How many people ride the Q98 bus?
The Q98 carries about 5,198 riders a day (October 2025 – September 2026), #66 of 339 NYC bus routes.
When is the Q98 busiest?
On weekdays it is busiest around 7 AM, with about 594 riders that hour.
How fast is the Q98 bus?
It averages 8 mph on weekdays, #110 fastest of 262 local and Select Bus routes, up from 7.9 mph the year before.
Is the Q98 bus reliable?
68.1% of its trips kept to their scheduled spacing (the MTA's "wait assessment"; local routes overall: 72.1%), and 90.2% of scheduled buses actually ran.
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).