A new City Comptroller report found that most of New York City’s bus routes received D and F grades for on-time reliability and average speed, with some lines moving slower than pedestrians. The analysis of real-time Metropolitan Transportation Authority data shows widespread delays and slow travel across the system that serves more than one million riders daily.
The office of Comptroller Brad Lander released "Life in the Fast Lane: A Report Card for NYC’s Buses" last week, using MTA data from June 2024 through June 2025 to calculate on-time performance and average speed. Of the city’s 332 public-bus routes included in the study, only 144 received a passing grade. Just 27 routes — about 8% — earned a B or higher, and only seven routes received an A.
The report found that roughly 56% of routes operate at speeds "significantly below" where they should be, and many routes fall behind schedule more than half the time. Some Manhattan routes measured average speeds as slow as 4.9 to 5.4 miles per hour. The M34 in Midtown averaged about 5.4 mph, a pace the report said some pedestrians can out-walk.
Comptroller Lander said the problems are tangible for riders. "From Brooklyn seniors waiting over 20 minutes for bunched buses to Manhattan commuters crawling at slow 5 mph speeds, the impact of the City and MTA’s failures is unmistakable and felt daily for thousands," he said, adding that the report offers a roadmap to target interventions to improve service.
The worst-performing routes overall were express lines between boroughs. The QM5 had an on-time percentage of 35.5%, the BM1 36.2%, BM5 37.1%, BM2 38.2% and QM6 38.5%. Those express routes averaged between about 10.2 and 13.1 mph. Among local routes, the report cited the B74 with a 40% on-time rate, and the B32, BX20, BX32, Q8 and Q24 with on-time percentages ranging from roughly 48% to 50.7%.
Riders quoted in the report and subsequent media coverage described lengthy waits and unpredictable service. One commuter said she had sometimes taken a taxi instead of waiting for a delayed bus; another said he waited at least 25 minutes for his morning bus.
The comptroller’s office identified "bunching" — when buses fail to maintain proper spacing and arrive in clumps — as a major contributor to delays. Fourteen routes had bunching-frequency rates of 20% or higher, and seven of those are in Brooklyn. The report noted that Manhattan routes are further hampered by heavy traffic outside the congestion pricing zone.
Select Bus Service routes, which use limited stops and other priority measures, performed modestly better overall. Sixteen percent of SBS routes received an A or B, compared with 8% of regular routes. The report listed the Q35, M60 SBS, BX29, B31, SIM26, B84 and S89 among the best-performing lines.
The analysis also assessed effects of the city's congestion pricing program. Between Jan. 1 and June 1, 2025, bus reliability improved by 9.2% within the tolling zone. However, the report found that buses operating outside the congestion zone did not see comparable gains, and more than 70% of Manhattan buses outside the tolling zone still received D or F grades.
Frank Farrell, acting senior vice president of the New York City Transit Department of Buses, told reporters the MTA is pursuing redesigns intended to "significantly improve speeds." He said dedicated bus lanes are needed to make a material impact on bus speed citywide.
The report arrives as New York’s mayoral campaign centers transportation among several candidates’ top issues. Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams has supported expanding Select Bus Service and adding dedicated bus lanes. Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa has proposed increasing express bus service, expanding discounted fares and stepping up enforcement to reduce congestion. Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani has proposed free buses citywide and a rapid build-out of priority bus lanes and dedicated loading zones to limit double parking. Former governor and mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo has backed expanding a fare-free bus pilot and has called for mayoral control of the MTA.
Advocates and transit officials have long pushed for more bus lanes, enforcement against double parking, traffic-signal priority and operational changes to reduce bunching. The comptroller’s report outlines where interventions could be deployed to target the slowest and least reliable corridors and suggests that many riders’ daily commutes would benefit from systemwide priority measures.
The report’s authors said actionable steps include expanding bus priority infrastructure, improving scheduling and dispatch to reduce bunching, and accelerating bus route redesigns. The MTA and city officials will face pressure from riders and candidates to translate those recommendations into concrete projects and timelines as the mayoral campaign advances and transit remains a central urban-policy concern.