The overall reliability of service on 42 key routes, as selected by New York City Transit, is very poor. That means that an average of four out of ten buses on these routes arrived either bunched together or with major gaps in service. That means than less than half its buses arrived evenly spaced between July 1996 and June 1997. Riders often do not get basic information about stops. For the 201 bus routes that make up the New York City Transit bus system, announcements were correct and understandable only one-third of the time between July 1996 and June 1997.
Many bus routes are filthy.
New York City Transit can and must do better. New York City Transit buses break down far more often than they did five years ago. During the first half of 1997, NYCT buses traveled just 2,384 miles before an interruption in service occurred, compared to a service interruption every 3,859 miles in 1992. Service interruptions were greater in every borough in 1997 than in 1992. New York City Transit buses hit a performance low in 1995.