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Free ride: MTA to nix fares on 5 NYC bus routes by late September
By
Giulia Heyward
and
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Jul 17, 2023
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Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
By
Giulia Heyward
and
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Jul 17, 2023
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Free rides are coming to five city bus routes by Sept. 24, the MTA said on Monday.
MTA officials said during a committee meeting that fares won’t be collected on one route in each of the five boroughs for at least six months as part of a program mandated by the state.
- The B60, which runs in Brooklyn between Williams and Flatlands Avenue, in Canarsie, and Williamsburg Bridge Plaza.
- The M116, which operates across Manhattan, primarily along 116th Street, Manhattan Avenue and W 106 Street.
- The Q4 LCL/LTD, which runs in southeast Queens between Cambria Heights and Jamaica Center.
- The S46/96, which runs in Staten Island between the St. George Ferry Terminal and West Shore Plaza.
- The BX18 A/B, which runs in a loop in the western Bronx between Undercliff Avenue or Sedgwick Avenue and Grand Concourse
“That is a great thing that the bus will be free, hallelujah,” said Mattie Smith, a senior citizen from Harlem who rides the M116 bus two to three times a week. “We have so much we have to do with our little funds.”
MTA officials said the free routes serve about 44,000 of the agency's 1.3 million weekday bus riders, and are slated to run as a pilot program for at least six months but no longer than a year.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state legislature required the MTA to launch the program as part of the state budget, which was approved in May.
The legislation came after transit advocates lobbied for free bus service as a way to make mass transit more accessible for low-income New Yorkers.
“People have said that they’ve had to choose between a meal and a MetroCard, between medicine and a MetroCard,” said Riders Alliance spokesperson Danny Pearlstein.
Buses on the five free routes will be branded with “Fare Free” signs, officials said. And the MTA plans to add green and black designs to bus stop signs on the free routes that tell riders they won’t have to pay.
MTA officials said they expect there will be crowding issues as more people learn about the fare-free routes.
A report issued by the agency in May estimated 37% of bus riders already do not pay to ride because they evade the fare.
Chaba Doye, who waited for the M116 bus in Harlem on Monday, said that was a good reason to make more routes free.
"Since the pandemic, a lot of people are struggling to pay the fare," said Doye. "Everybody is getting on the bus without even paying, they might as well make it free. Especially this area [has] a lot of low income people."
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new york city
transportation
Giulia Heyward
Giulia Heyward is a breaking news reporter on the Day-Of desk. She previously worked at NPR, as a breaking news reporter, and the New York Times, as a reporting fellow on the national desk. Her work has also appeared in CNN, The Atlantic and Politico. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or more securely on signal at 917-715-1458.
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Ramsey Khalifeh
Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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