{"id":312399,"date":"2026-08-03T12:09:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T12:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/312399\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T12:09:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T12:09:16","slug":"mamdani-hasnt-made-nycs-buses-free-riders-stopped-paying-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/312399\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani hasn’t made NYC’s buses free. Riders stopped paying anyway."},"content":{"rendered":"

It still costs $3 to ride the MTA\u2019s buses, despite Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s campaign pledge to make them free<\/a> for everyone.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t tell that to a growing number of New Yorkers who are evading the fare. The MTA last week reported paid bus ridership fell nearly 8% in June compared to the same month last year, despite the subway and commuter railroads bringing in more fares.<\/p>\n

During Mamdani\u2019s first six months in office, the fares the MTA collected from bus riders fell by $31 million compared to the first half of 2025. And MTA Chair Janno Lieber suggested Mamdani\u2019s campaign pledge wasn\u2019t helping.<\/p>\n

“With malice towards none, I say all the talk of free bus has an impact, it does have an impact,\u201d Lieber said following the MTA\u2019s board meeting on Wednesday. \u201cWithout rancor and without blame, I do think we have to now turn as a city to re-establishing the principle that everybody shares in the responsibility for contributing to this system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lieber said many of the people skipping the fare can afford to pay, which passes \u201calong responsibility to somebody else who\u2019s probably not as well off as you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bronx resident Brenda Charles, 64, took a free trip on the M2 bus in Harlem last week on her way to help a homebound friend. She knows the buses aren\u2019t free. And knows she\u2019s risking a ticket if she gets caught by an MTA enforcement agent<\/a>, but said she can\u2019t afford to pay every time she rides.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aNormally I pay, I got an OMNY card, it’s just that it costs me a lot,\u201d said Charles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI go a lot of places on the bus, and I’m not qualified for the half fare yet,\u201d she said, referring to the senior discount she\u2019ll be able to get once she turns 65. \u201cBut right now it builds up. If I go three, four places a day, It’s a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lieber on Wednesday said \u201cwe\u2019re going to have to create a system which feels a little fairer with enforcement.\u201d He\u2019s previously vowed to crack down on fare evasion through the agency\u2019s EAGLE teams. Now that MetroCards are no longer accepted on buses, the agency plans to use devices that check<\/a> whether riders\u2019 phones or cards were used to pay \u2014 and issue tickets to farebeaters.<\/p>\n

Mamdani made his campaign pledge to make the buses free, even though the mayor has no power to deliver on the promise. The MTA is run by the state, not the city.<\/p>\n

Mamdani spokesperson Jeremy Edwards didn\u2019t respond to Lieber\u2019s suggestion that the mayor\u2019s call for free buses led to fewer people paying, but instead defended the proposal.<\/p>\n

“Fare evasion has been a persistent problem for years and the fact that some people are unable to afford bus fare highlights the affordability crisis in our city,\u201d Edwards said. \u201cThis is exactly why Mayor Mamdani is pushing for a fare free system.”<\/p>\n

MTA bus drivers do not enforce the fare under a labor agreement put in place after a bus driver was murdered in 2008<\/a> while trying to get a rider to pay. Now, the MTA estimates about half of bus riders don\u2019t pay. But some advocates have raised concerns over the years that the crackdown will in effect criminalize poverty.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aThere’s no money. That’s the problem. Nobody has any money, including me,\u201d Nelson Ramirez, 65, said after boarding an M7 bus without paying. \u201cI got problems even to pay my bills, so that’s why we take chances.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he tried to sign up for the city\u2019s Fair Fares program that provides half-priced rides to low-income residents, but had trouble navigating the system and gave up. The City Council expanded the income limit to qualify for the program in June, but a one-person household making more than $31,920 is still ineligible.<\/p>\n

Lieber said if fewer people pay the fare, the more the MTA may have to raise its prices to cover the difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to keep it affordable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It still costs $3 to ride the MTA\u2019s buses, despite Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s campaign pledge to make them…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312400,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,56,63,65,64],"class_list":["post-312399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312399","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=312399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}