Riders bank a major win for affordable transit

Mayor Mamdani, Speaker Menin, and the City Council have reached a final budget agreement which includes the largest expansion of Fair Fares eligibility since the program was created. Starting this year, New Yorkers earning up to 200% of the federal poverty level ($31,920 for an individual) will qualify for half-price transit – this is a victory Riders Alliance has been fighting to achieve for many years and will help 340,000 more New Yorkers qualify for the program.

The expansion delivers on a campaign pledge Mayor Mamdani made to increase Fair Fares eligibility during one of the most contentious budget negotiations in recent memory. As negotiations intensified, nearly every new investment came under pressure, making this an extraordinarily challenging environment for securing new funding.

That's what makes this victory extra meaningful, and it’s entirely owed to the unrelenting advocacy of our members and our many coalition partners. In a year when every last dollar was fiercely contested and relatively few programs saw meaningful new investments, New York City committed tens of millions of new dollars to make transit more affordable.

It's too easy to underestimate what the cost of transit means when you're living on the financial edge. A single subway or bus fare may seem small compared to rent or childcare, especially compared to the cost of owning a car. But for New Yorkers deciding whether they can afford to get to work, take a child to a doctor's appointment, or pick up an extra shift, those fares add up quickly. We hear every day from riders who skip trips or make impossible tradeoffs simply because they don't have the money.

While we didn’t win our full agenda for affordable transit, we made meaningful progress toward that goal. We were fighting to make transit free for the lowest-income Fair Fares participants and to expand eligibility even further, because the affordability crisis facing riders demands it. And we'll continue organizing until every New Yorker can afford to get where they need to go.

Thank you to all of you who joined us at rallies, called your elected officials, testified at hearings and helped us raise our collective voice to demand more affordable transit for all. Thank you to the Riders for Affordable Transit Coalition who organized alongside us to deepen and expand affordability for millions of New Yorkers. And special thanks to Speaker Menin, Council Member Crystal Hudson and Council Member Shaun Abreu for championing Fair Fares.