![\"MTA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/janno-lieber-mta-marc-a-hermann-07012026.jpg\" "\\"Op-ed")
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MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber<\/p>\n
Marc A. Hermann \/ MTA<\/p>\n
Another huge win for the affordability agenda: after reaching an agreement with the Mayor\u2019s office, the City Council is raising the eligibility threshold for\u00a0Fair Fares<\/a>, the municipal program offering half-priced OMNY cards to low-income New Yorkers.<\/p>\n Previously, folks working 40 hours a week for minimum wage didn\u2019t qualify. That\u2019s changing now, and we at the MTA are thrilled.\n<\/p>\n We\u2019ve been advocating for expansion for years, including in\u00a0op-eds in this paper<\/a>\u00a0dating as far back as 2022, the year I was confirmed as Chair and CEO. More recently, we\u2019ve published a\u00a0Policy Brief<\/a>\u00a0on the issue and even testified to its importance at a City Council hearing in May.<\/p>\n We said then that targeted expansion of Fair Fares is the best way to broaden access to our already-affordable transit system. Thanks to our vast network, New Yorkers pay less for transportation than almost anywhere else in the country. There\u2019s no need to spend thousands of dollars buying, insuring, and maintaining a car \u2014 a single tap is all you need to get around New York City.<\/p>\n But we know many people still need help paying the fare, and that\u2019s where Fair Fares comes in. At $1.50 a ride, participants are paying about 45% less per trip today\u00a0than they did a decade ago, before Fair Fares started, a rare expense in this City that\u2019s gotten\u00a0cheaper over time.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now that the eligibility threshold is being raised considerably, our Customer team is ready to do whatever we can to help drive enrollment, which has historically increased with every expansion.<\/p>\n