![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2248455162.jpg\"\/)
What To Know\u00a0<\/p>\nNew York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing backlash on social media after bus fares increased in the city on Sunday, an action that was put in place before he took office.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On September 30, 2025, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board approved changes to fares that took effect on Sunday. The base fare for buses, subways and Access-A-Ride increased by 10 cents, from $2.90 to $3.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cToday,\u00a0New\u00a0York City subway and bus fares rose from $2.90 to $3. I spent the evening riding the only free bus in the city, the Q70, to hear what a fare free ride\u00a0has meant\u00a0for New Yorkers,\u201d Mamdani wrote on\u00a0X\u00a0on\u00a0Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why It Matters\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mamdani\u2019s campaign platform included\u00a0free\u00a0city bus service.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs mayor, I\u2019ll make every bus fast and free,\u201d Mamdani said in a\u00a0campaign video\u00a0last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mamdani took office on Thursday. In his inauguration speech, he said: “Getting on a bus without worrying about a fare hike or whether you\u2019ll be late to your destination will no longer be deemed a small miracle\u2014because we will make buses fast and free.”<\/p>\n
Even though the fare increase was passed before Mamdani took office and rate increases are decided by the MTA Board, social media users still\u00a0slammed\u00a0the rise in cost and emphasized Mamdani’s campaign promise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One\u00a0X user\u00a0wrote: \u201cMamdani promised us a free ride, but all we got is a higher fare.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another\u00a0X user\u00a0wrote: \u201cBus and Subway fares in NYC are jumping to $3 as of today. The good mayor promised\u00a0free. Hoodwinked!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another\u00a0X user\u00a0wrote that Mamdani \u201chas been in office for 3 days\u201d and \u201cthe fare increase was set in September.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
What To Know\u00a0<\/p>\n
In addition to the base bus fare rising, the reduced fare increased from $1.45 to $1.50. The express bus fare increased from\u00a0$7 to $7.25. The reduced fare\u00a0for express buses\u00a0will increase from $3.50 to $3.60.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 2025 MTA budget, which was approved by the MTA Board in December 2024, assumed that a fare increase would occur in March 2025. The MTA delayed the increase to January 2026 \u201cto align with the launch of full tap-and-go on subways and buses,\u201d the MTA said on its website.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The subway and bus fare last increased in 2023, when the base fare rose from $2.75 to $2.90. Fares typically increase every two years,\u00a0WABC\u00a0reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What People Are Saying\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani,\u00a0on X about the fare-free Q70 bus line:\u00a0\u201cWhat was clear right away was the relief this one bus line gives working\u00a0class\u00a0New Yorkers. Imagine if every bus felt like this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
MTA,\u00a0on its website:\u00a0\u201cFares and tolls give the MTA resources to\u00a0operate\u00a0a safe and reliable transportation system that New Yorkers can count on. Fare and toll changes are small and occur at regular intervals to keep up with inflation and avoid surprising customers with unpredictable or double-digit increases.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Do you have a story that\u00a0Newsweek\u00a0should be covering? Do you have any questions about this story? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing backlash on social media after bus fares increased in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90245,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[20953,141,9,24,55,54,56,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-90244","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-bus-fares","9":"tag-mta","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","13":"tag-new-york-city-news","14":"tag-ny","15":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90244","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=90244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}