Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Most NYC buses aren't providing fast or reliable service, comptroller says
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Sep 4, 2025
Modified Sep 4, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Gary Hershorn/Getty Images
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Sep 4, 2025
Modified Sep 4, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
More than half of New York City buses got failing grades in a new analysis by Comptroller Brad Lander that crunched MTA data on speeds, on-time performance, and frequency of delays.
Buses in Manhattan were the worst in the city, with 73% receiving a D or F. Lander blamed heavy traffic that often forces buses to travel at a laughable 5 miles per hour.
“ This is our effort to help provide a report card system that helps us get out of life in the slow lane and get those buses moving faster,” Lander said in an interview. Lander has long been focused on street safety and has used his office to scrutinize bus service.
Lander’s report card arrives as bus speeds have become a key issue in the race for mayor. Democratic nominee and front-runner Zohran Mamdani has campaigned on a promise to speed up buses by making them free for all riders. His leading rival Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, has proposed making buses and subways free for the poorest New Yorkers.
Mayor Eric Adams, also running as an independent, has promised to add a busway to speed up the notoriously slow buses on 34th Street. Adams had been criticized for slow-walking the project.
“If the buses were free and folks could get on at the front or the back door, that makes boarding a good deal faster,” Lander told Gothamist.
The MTA has installed OMNY readers in the front and back of buses, but riders are currently only supposed to board through the front doors (with the exception of Select Bus Service buses).
The transit agency cites high rates of bus fare evasion for not allowing riders to board at the front and back.
Despite efforts to crack down on bus fare evaders, 55% of riders on SBS buses did not pay the fare in the first three months of the year, according to MTA data. On regular buses, 44% of riders skipped the fare over the same period.
There were success stories within the data. The implementation of congestion pricing below 60th Street coincided with a boost to bus speeds as overall traffic was reduced. Data showed that the scores of 106 bus lines that run through the toll zone improved 9.2% from January to June. Express buses sped up the most during that time.
Each borough had its standout stars. The B31 in Brooklyn, which runs from Gerritsen Beach to Midwood, got an A, as did the B84 in East New York. The Bx29 in the Bronx that runs from Pelham Bay to City Island received the only A in that borough. The M60 select bus that runs from LaGuardia Airport to Harlem won high marks, as did the the Q35 in Queens, which runs from Brooklyn College to Rockaway Park. Staten Island’s S89 and the SIM26 both got As.
The MTA is in the midst of redesigning the bus routes in each borough in an effort to speed up commutes. The MTA fully implemented the redesigned Queens bus network last Sunday.
Lander criticized the MTA for not publishing line-by-line bus data that could help the public track service. The agency didn’t respond to a question about creating publicly available goals for each line.
“The MTA agrees with Comptroller Lander that faster buses are essential for riders, which is why we are undertaking all-borough bus network redesigns to speed up service with improved routing and stop spacing, expanding automatic camera enforcement, and significantly improving speeds in Manhattan through congestion relief,” Frank Farrell, an acting NYC Transit executive overseeing buses, wrote in a statement. “The fact remains that dedicated bus lanes are needed to make a material impact on bus speed citywide.”
Advocates said the pokey service is all too familiar.
"It's bus report card time and the results are grim. As riders know all too well, the slowest buses in America still aren't showing up for us in the way we need and deserve,” Riders Alliance spokesperson Danny Pearlstein said.
Tagged
manhattan
transportation
Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 4:15 p.m. ET
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
News
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
NYC nor’easter dries up after weather service reports minor flooding
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .