SIM5 Bus: Riders, Speed & Reliability
Eltingville - Lower Manhattan Express · Express · 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 SIM5?
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 SIM5 carries about 475 riders a day (October 2025 – September 2026), #281 of 339 NYC bus routes. On weekdays it is busiest around 7 AM, with about 137 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 |
|---|---|
| State St/Bridge St | 116 |
| Water St/Maiden Ln | 43 |
| Water St/Hanover Sq | 41 |
| Pearl St/Frankfort St | 39 |
| Pearl St/Fulton St | 30 |
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 17.1 mph on weekdays, down from 17.9 mph the year before. 77% 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.
| SIM5 | All local and SBS routes | |
|---|---|---|
| Average weekday speed | 17.1 mph | 7.5 mph |
| Trips that kept their scheduled spacing | 77% | 72.1% |
| Scheduled buses that actually ran | 92.5% | 94% |
| Extra time at stops vs schedule | 1.9 min | – |
| Extra time on board vs schedule | 1.4 min | – |
| Bus-lane camera violations (12 months) | – | 2,864,642 |
Other Express (Staten Island) routes
All routes SIM1C SIM4C SIM1 SIM10 SIM8 SIM33C SIM3C SIM6 SIM4 SIM34 SIM26 SIM2 SIM15 SIM25 SIM22 SIM3 SIM11 SIM7 SIM30 SIM31 SIM35 SIM33 SIM32 SIM9 SIM23 SIM24
Questions
How many people ride the SIM5 bus?
The SIM5 carries about 475 riders a day (October 2025 – September 2026), #281 of 339 NYC bus routes.
When is the SIM5 busiest?
On weekdays it is busiest around 7 AM, with about 137 riders that hour.
How fast is the SIM5 bus?
It averages 17.1 mph on weekdays, down from 17.9 mph the year before.
Is the SIM5 bus reliable?
77% 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).