{"id":183314,"date":"2026-04-02T11:47:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T11:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/183314\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T11:47:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T11:47:10","slug":"editorial-finding-the-fare-way-forward-for-new-yorkers-and-the-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/183314\/","title":{"rendered":"Editorial | Finding the \u2018fare\u2019 way forward, for New Yorkers and the budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"people\t\t\t<\/p>\n

A commuter paying the fare while passing through a new subway gate at the 23rd Street-Baruch College station on Jan. 23, 2026. <\/p>\n

Photo by Lloyd Mitchell <\/p>\n

One of Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s biggest campaign promises last year was creating a fast, fare-free bus system available to all New Yorkers<\/a> \u2014 an ambitious goal fraught with numerous questions about funding and bureaucratic hurdles.<\/p>\n

The buses are run by the MTA<\/a>, a state agency controlled by Gov. Kathy Hochul. The MTA is hesitant to embrace a fare-free bus system because, as MTA Chair Janno Lieber implied, it would make the rides free for even those who can afford to pay the $3 fare, which isn\u2019t very \u201cfair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani wants a tax increase on the wealthy to pay for a fare-free bus system, among other items on his wish list (expanded free childcare, cheap grocery stores, a massive budget deficit, etc.). Alas, Hochul has made it clear she will oppose any new tax increases, especially as she seeks re-election this November.<\/p>\n

In short, everybody is telling the mayor \u201cno\u201d to his desire for tax increases. But they\u2019re not necessarily saying \u201cno\u201d to his vision of affordability, especially when it comes to public transportation. For evidence of that, Mamdani doesn\u2019t need to look any further than the City Council chamber to find it.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, in outlining the City Council\u2019s budget proposal, Speaker Julie Menin announced a dramatic expansion of the \u201cFair Fares\u201d program<\/a>, which currently offers half-priced subway and bus rides to qualified low-income New Yorkers. Menin\u2019s plan would offer free transit rides to anyone making up to 150% of the city\u2019s poverty line, which would include individuals earning $23,475 annually and a four-person household earning $48,225 each year.<\/p>\n

More than 1.7 million New Yorkers would be eligible for the free Fair Fares program. Cost projections are affordable even in a tough city budget \u2014 between $130 million and $170 million in a budget plan that will likely top about $120 billion when finalized.<\/p>\n

Best of all, the proposed Fair Fares expansion offers no major bureaucratic hurdles. City Hall doesn\u2019t need to ask Albany or the MTA for permission to do it. There\u2019s no need to wait for feasibility studies or to purchase upgraded buses. And it would be almost immediately available to New Yorkers who qualify.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s preliminary budget in February excluded an expansion of \u201cFair Fares\u201d; he suggested the budget picture was too bleak to include it. Yet Speaker Menin and her budget staff say they have found a way forward not only on Fair Fares, but also to close the $6 billion budget gap without raising taxes on anyone through a combination of cost savings and other revenue streams.<\/p>\n

The mayor wants it all, of course, but he doesn\u2019t need it all. New Yorkers want a more affordable city, and a more affordable public transit system. If that can be achieved without raising taxes, blowing budget holes, or jumping through bureaucratic hoops, then that\u2019s a win for everyone \u2014 and that\u2019s all that matters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A commuter paying the fare while passing through a new subway gate at the 23rd Street-Baruch College station…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[73777,301,53892,33429,19077,426,73778,141,9,24,63,58810,5001,122,124,123,41490,10115,41886,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-183314","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-affordable-transportation","9":"tag-city-council","10":"tag-fair-fares","11":"tag-fare-free-buses","12":"tag-julie-menin","13":"tag-kathy-hochul","14":"tag-low-income-new-yorkers","15":"tag-mta","16":"tag-new-york","17":"tag-new-york-city","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-nyc-budget","20":"tag-public-transit","21":"tag-queens","22":"tag-queens-headlines","23":"tag-queens-news","24":"tag-subway-fares","25":"tag-tax-policy","26":"tag-urban-policy","27":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}