Report: Expanding MTA Fair Fares subway program would benefit New Yorkers more than free buses

New York City's Citizens Budget Commission issued a report that argues that the $900 million it would take to establish Mayor Mamdani's free bus plan would be put to better use subsidizing subway fares for low-income residents.

As Ramsey Khalifeh explains in Gothamist, raising the income threshold for the MTA's Fair Fares program from 150% of the federal poverty line to 250% would do more to help poor New Yorkers who depend on the subway for daily transportation. "The nonprofit estimated increasing the income limit would cost taxpayers $232 million a year, up from the $86 million the program currently spends annually."

"Nearly three-quarters of them who use transit to get to work use the subways. And so if we expand Fair Fares, we're giving them the choice that works best for them," said CBC President Andrew Rein. According to data analyzed by the CBC, making buses free wouldn't reduce the cost of travel for most riders, since 86% of daily trips are made on the subway and 12% of bus riders who transfer to the subway would still have to pay the subway fare.