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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/migdalia-rotated.jpg\")
Migdalia, rider of the Bx19 (Harlem to New York Botanical Garden). Photo By Emily Swanson.\n<\/p>\nBronx residents rely upon some of the most unreliable and slow buses in the city to get around.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Though some bus lines have average speeds that make tortoises look fast, tens of thousands of residents across the borough each day have no choice but to rely upon them to travel from east to west, or vice versa.<\/p>\n
The commuters include people who keep the Hunts Point Terminal Market, the bread basket of the city, operating 24 hours a day to stock restaurant and grocery store shelves citywide. They are also healthcare workers, college students, doormen, security guards and retirees out shopping, going to the doctor\u2019s office, or visiting loved ones.<\/p>\n
What is it like for the average Bronx bus rider to get around? The Bronx Times sought to answer that question by traveling on some local bus lines and speaking with commuters about their experiences. What follows is a summary of what they told us.<\/p>\n
Migdalia, age 61
\nMigdalia, rider of the Bx19 (Harlem to New York Botanical Garden). Photo By Emily Swanson.\n<\/p>\n
Migdalia got on the Bx19 at the corner of East 149th and Exterior Streets, heading for East 149th Street and Bergen Avenue. The trip took about 20 minutes during our visit. She was on her way to visit her mother.<\/p>\n
Disabled and walking with a cane, Migdalia told the Bronx Times that she appreciates the convenience of living close to a Bx19 bus stop, but laments the experience of riding it at times.<\/p>\n
The bus often moves slowly, she believes, because of overcrowding in the community.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cToo many schools\u201d and traffic contribute to the problem, she believes. \u201cThis over here, it feels to overpopulated.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
The bus is often crowded and slow on weekdays because of students traveling to and from class.\n<\/p>\n
Lucas Rodriguez Jr., age 59
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/lucas-rodriguez-rotated.jpg\")
Lucas Rodriguez Jr. rider of the Bx19 (Harlem to New York Botanical Garden) Photo by Emily Swanson.\n<\/p>\n
Rodriguez Jr., who lives in Hunts Point, said he\u2019s usually too impatient to ride the bus. \u201cIf a train takes me half an hour, [the bus] takes me an hour and 25 minutes, because it\u2019s just stop after stop after stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
But midday on Feb. 28, he rode the bus to deliver a special gift to family members: a portrait that he turned into a puzzle and framed of a cousin who passed away.<\/p>\n
On the way up to the end of the BX19 line, Rodriguez told the Bronx Times he couldn\u2019t comprehend how bus service could be made better in such a crowded city.<\/p>\n
Residents might have to adjust to more bus lanes, Rodriguez said. \u201cIf it\u2019s convenient for people, so be it. Anything to make it better. We gotta be okay with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before leaving, Rodriguez said he expected the trip from Hunts Point to East 189th Street\/Fordham Road to take an hour, but it was less than 30 minutes. \u201cThat wasn\u2019t too bad!\u201d<\/p>\n
Anonymous, age 67\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Rider of the Bx19 (Harlem to New York Botanical Garden)\n<\/p>\n
A 67-year-old man waiting for the bus at East 149th and Exterior Street, who did not want to share his name with the Bronx Times, is one rare New Yorker who had no complaints about bus service \u2014 at least not on his most-used route.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He told the Bronx Times he commutes on the BX19 six days per week for his warehouse job at East 149th and Southern Blvd. He said service is reliable and wait times aren\u2019t bad. \u201cI\u2019ve never had problems\u201d getting to work on time, he said. He added that, in his experience, the BX1 and BX2 are much more unreliable and slower than the BX19.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The man did say he worries about people getting busted for fare evasion. He said he qualifies for half-price rides but sees many people who just hop on the bus \u2014 and end up paying a steep price.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mauricio, age 20\u00a0
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Mauricio-Carino.jpg\")
Mauricio riding the Bx42. Photo by Marina Samuel.\n<\/p>\n
Mauricio had just left class at Bronx Community College and was waiting for either the Bx40 or the Bx42 \u2014 whichever arrived first. Getting home to East 180th Street isn\u2019t the hardest part of his commute, he said. Getting to school in the morning is a gamble.<\/p>\n
The unreliability of the Bx40 and Bx42 can add as much as an hour to his morning commute. Buses that are scheduled to arrive minutes apart often don\u2019t show up at all.<\/p>\n
His worst commute, he said, was the first day of the semester during Winter Storm Fern.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to wait 30 minutes for the bus. And it took, I want to say, an hour and 20 minutes to get to the stop,\u201d he told the Bronx Times.\n<\/p>\n
The experience has pushed him to work toward getting his driver\u2019s license \u2014 and once he does, he plans to drive to school instead.\n<\/p>\n
Shay, 26\u00a0
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Shay-2.jpg\")
Shay, riding the Bx12-SBS. Photo by Marina Samuel\n<\/p>\n
Shay, a social work intern, has been riding the Bx12 Select Bus Service since she was 16.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She prefers the Select Bus because it runs farther west into Inwood, while the local ends at Sedgwick Avenue. But she plans her trips carefully. Shay intentionally avoids rush hour, opting to travel around 10 a.m. or later at night around 9 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u201cI absolutely avoid it when it\u2019s really packed,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really hard to get on the bus.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it\u2019s packed, it\u2019s uncomfortable,\u201d she added. \u201cThere is usually a lot of traffic too, so you\u2019re on for longer and there\u2019s no space to sit.\u201d<\/p>\n
During Winter Storm Fern in January, she was waiting for the bus at Broadway and 207th Street when the bus never arrived. Instead, she walked across the University Heights Bridge into the Bronx. The bridge had not yet been salted, and she said she was worried about slipping.<\/p>\n
Despite the snow, she said anger fueled her walk \u2014 and she made it home faster than she expected.\n<\/p>\n
She said she stopped paying the fare because she believes the service is too unreliable.\n<\/p>\n