You’ve gotta B kidding.
Seven subway lines had on-time averages of only 75% or less this year — with the B line’s trains unreliable of the bunch, according to MTA data.
B-line trains had a paltry on-time average of just 65.1 % over the last 12 months, the data show.
The C, F and the 2 lines were also routinely tardy, arriving on-time only 68.8%, 70.1% and 70.5% of the time, respectively.
The D, N and A trains were slightly better with on-time averages of 72.2%, 74.2% and 74.6%, respectively.
“I’m not surprised,” B train rider Natalie told The Post, adding that her weekly trip to visit her mother is often delayed 15 minutes or more. “Whenever I do [take the B train], there’s always delays.”
Straphanger Bill said he waits up to 20 minutes during peak hours.
“Where we take the B train in Brooklyn … it’s a mess,” he said.
Service on three of the four of the most delay-prone trains has gotten worse over the last five years, according to the data, with the exception of the F train – which showed up on time this year nearly 6% more since 2019.
Only four trains – the M, G, 7 and L trains – and all three S shuttle trains arrived on time 85% or more of the time, on average, over the last 12 months.
Systemwide, on-time performance is up 1.7% over the last five years, with trains arriving when they’re supposed to 82.1% of the time in 2024. Last year, that number stood at 84%.
“Reliability, on-time performance, and customer satisfaction are at a 12-year high,” NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow said in a statement last month as delays hit 16 subway routes in a hellish Friday for commuters.
A spokesperson for the MTA defended the system’s reliability.
“New York City Transit continues to deliver the best on time performance in over a decade, all while running 1,200 more trains a week with enhancements on 12 lines and more than doubling ridership,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “New Yorkers know the subway is the fastest and most reliable way to get around.”
The most reliable trains this year were the 42nd Street, Franklin Avenue and Rockaway shuttles, which charted on-time arrivals at 99.4%, 99.3% and 95.7% clips on average, according to the data.
The L train was the best-performing line at 91.9% on-time performance, followed by the G (88%), M (86.8%) and 3 (82.5%) trains.
The L line’s good timing shocked Brooklynite Estella Agaev, who said the figures didn’t mesh with the “ocean of people” packed into rush-hour trains.
“It’s just very crowded … I’ve actually taken the subway uptown to take the ferry [to Brooklyn]” because of the crowds, said L train rider Robyn D., a native Brooklynite.
“It was just never this popular,” she added.
Meanwhile, the M train has shown the most improvement over the last five years, increasing on-time arrivals by nearly 11% since 2019, the data show.
During the same period, the C and 1 trains’ performance dropped nearly 5%, according to the figures.
As for the subway line recently dubbed the most relaxing in the Big Apple — the Q, or “quiet nap” train — it dropped in reliability more than 4% over the last five years, with trains arriving timely less than 80% of the time, the analysis showed.