S51 Bus: Riders, Speed & Reliability
St. George - Grant City · 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 S51?
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 S51 carries about 1,253 riders a day (October 2025 – September 2026), #226 of 339 NYC bus routes. On weekdays it is busiest around 7 AM, with about 152 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 |
|---|---|
| St George Ferry/S51 & S81 | 617 |
| Bay St/Victory Blvd | 351 |
| Midland Av/Hylan Blvd | 319 |
| Bay St/Virginia Av | 176 |
| Bay St/New Ln | 155 |
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 12.3 mph on weekdays, #18 fastest of 262 local and Select Bus routes, up from 12.2 mph the year before. 73.6% of its trips kept to their scheduled spacing (the MTA's "wait assessment"; local routes overall: 72.1%), and 92.5% of scheduled buses actually ran.
| S51 | All local and SBS routes | |
|---|---|---|
| Average weekday speed | 12.3 mph | 7.5 mph |
| Trips that kept their scheduled spacing | 73.6% | 72.1% |
| Scheduled buses that actually ran | 92.5% | 94% |
| Extra time at stops vs schedule | 3 min | – |
| Extra time on board vs schedule | 0.9 min | – |
| Bus-lane camera violations (12 months) | – | 2,864,642 |
Other Staten Island routes
All routes S79-SBS S53 S78 S44 S93 S46 S74 S48 S40 S61 S62 S76 S59 S52 S57 S66 S98 S91 S54 S94 S96 S90 S92 S89 S42 S56 S55 S81 S84
Questions
How many people ride the S51 bus?
The S51 carries about 1,253 riders a day (October 2025 – September 2026), #226 of 339 NYC bus routes.
When is the S51 busiest?
On weekdays it is busiest around 7 AM, with about 152 riders that hour.
How fast is the S51 bus?
It averages 12.3 mph on weekdays, #18 fastest of 262 local and Select Bus routes, up from 12.2 mph the year before.
Is the S51 bus reliable?
73.6% of its trips kept to their scheduled spacing (the MTA's "wait assessment"; local routes overall: 72.1%), and 92.5% 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).