"Given that Mayor Mamdani won the election with a relentless focus on affordability and by highlighting free buses as a key component, advocates say this is as good a time as ever to seize the momentum and bring free fares to all New Yorkers whose household incomes are 150 percent of the federal poverty level ($15,650 for individuals and $32,150 for a family of four) and half-priced fares to people at 300 percent."
""We want to expand the program," said Riders Alliance Senior Organizer Danna Dennis. "We are looking to make sure that New Yorkers who are at minimum wage, New Yorkers who have a nine-to-five, folks who are working full-time, part-time are qualified. Currently, that just isn't the case. We've been on a slow track to improving the program, but we think this is our time. It needs to happen.""
"Even with automatic enrollment, the Fair Fares expansion would be cheaper than free buses, which is projected to cost $1 billion. Backers of the Fair Fares expansion say it would cost about $421 million at most (program usage would be projected to be about 50 percent, even with automatic enrollment, as recipients don't swipe in every day)."
A coalition seeks to expand Fair Fares to provide free bus and subway access to over one million New Yorkers. The proposal would convert current half-priced thresholds ($23,475 individual; $48,225 for a family of four) into full free transit at those levels and offer half-priced fares for households at double those amounts. The plan targets free fares for households at 150 percent of the federal poverty level and half-priced fares at 300 percent. Automatic enrollment for eligible recipients is proposed to increase program uptake. The expansion is projected to cost up to $421 million, compared with an estimated $1 billion for citywide free buses, with expected program usage around fifty percent.
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