About two dozen transit advocates rallied in Brooklyn on Sunday to urge Zohran Mamdani’s incoming mayoral administration to make good on his campaign promise of a fare-free NYC bus system.
Members of the Riders Alliance gathered at the Atlantic Ave.-Barclays Center subway station on Dec. 7, calling for the new administration, which will take office on Jan. 1, to automate enrollment into and expand eligibility for the Fair Fares program, which currently provides half-priced subway and bus fares to low-income public transit users who live at 145% of the federal poverty level.
Advocates at the rally not only want to double the eligibility level, but also demand that Mamdani fulfill his pledge to make all NYC buses fare-free — a complicated effort that will require not only negotiation between the city, the state and the MTA, but also the city finding a dedicated revenue stream to keep the buses rolling.
“We are calling on the incoming administration to expand the Fair Fares program up to 300% along with their promise to make the buses free,” said Norma Ginez, a Riders Alliance member from the Bronx. “We deserve to have both free and discounted options to ride the subway too. Riders across the city are prepared to fight for a real affordable plan, one that makes the buses fast and free and one that makes transit in general affordable and accessible for all of us.”
Mamdani pushed for universally free buses throughout his campaign, but ultimately, the decision to end the fare would have to come from the MTA, a state-run agency. The mayor-elect was not at Sunday’s Riders Alliance rally, but in a statement to amNewYork, he said New Yorkers deserve a “fast, reliable and affordable” transit system.
“And I’m grateful to advocates like the Riders Alliance for pushing our city toward this vision that we share,” he said. “I remain fully committed to delivering fast and free buses, and we are already working with riders, transit workers, and the state to map out the steps to expand service, improve reliability, and make the transit system accessible to all New Yorkers.”
Ralliers on Sunday held signs that read messages such as “Make Transit Affordable” and “Free the Bus.” Their chants of “Transit justice now!” and “The power of riders don’t stop!” echoed throughout the station.
According to the advocates on Sunday, the cost of navigating the city by bus is “no small change” for many New Yorkers.
“For many reasons – including poverty, operational difficulties and pandemic-era disruptions – the bus fare is faltering as a reliable source of revenue to fund public transit service,” A press release from the Riders Alliances read. “Already, little more than half of bus riders pay the fare. Even assuming everyone paid, fares would cover less than half the cost of providing each ride.”
Leilani Cook, of Jamaica, Queens, said she is enrolled in Fair Fares, and knows what it is like for many New Yorkers who are struggling to afford basic needs.
“For years, I have organized with Riders Alliance around affordability and I know that the choice between a meal and a MetroCard is a very real one that so many New Yorkers experience,” she explained. “My Fair Fares card makes taking transit more affordable for me, but there are so many other people who are struggling to afford basic things like food and yet somehow do not qualify.”
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber has repeatedly said he is “thrilled” that transit was a key point of discussion during the mayoral election.
He reiterated the point during an interview on “The Point with Marcia Kramer” on Sunday, adding that “something of this scale,” meaning free buses, “needs to be studied a lot,” while noting that congestion pricing had been studied for five years before it launched this year on Jan. 5.
“We ought to study this,” Lieber said. “We, at the MTA, are committed to affordability. Look at what we’ve done. We have kept fare increases down to 2% a year when inflation was much higher.”
Meanwhile, Brian Fritsch, associate director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, told amNewYork that expanding the eligibility of Fair Fares and including other means of transit aside from buses and subways can help many more New Yorkers.
“Fair Fares can and should be a transformative complement to Mayor-elect Mamdani’s other transportation initiatives,” Fritsch said. “By expanding the program to cover workers making at or close to minimum wage, adding Metro-North, the LIRR and express buses, and streamlining the enrollment process, Fair Fares can help slash costs and commute times for the New Yorkers who need it most.”
Meanwhile, the MTA is working to stop rampant fare evasion throughout the system, especially on buses. The MTA lost about half a billion dollars last year in unpaid bus fares.
With reporting by Ethan Stark-Miller
