Image of a subway on 57th street taken by Steven
In a recent survey released on Thursday, the Community Service Society (CSS) disclosed that approximately 19 percent of New Yorkers faced difficulties in affording subway or bus fares in 2023. This marks an increase from the 14 percent reported in 2021 and 18 percent in 2022. The survey, which involved telephone interviews, polled 1,113 low-income residents along with 645 individuals from moderate to higher-income brackets throughout the city. Notably, a higher proportion of moderate- and high-income residents also reported challenges last year, with 21 and 10 percent, respectively.
Debipriya Chatterjee, a senior economist at CSS, expressed concerns that the rates of transit hardships could escalate even further this year. She attributed the heightened difficulties faced in August 2023 to several factors, including the cessation of pandemic-related financial aids and benefits, rising living costs, and an increase in the number of New Yorkers commuting to work in person. In response to these growing hardships, CSS and other advocacy groups are urging the city to broaden the scope of its Fair Fares program. This initiative currently offers half-priced MetroCards to low-income New Yorkers. In the previous year, the city committed an additional $20 million to increase the program’s eligibility to individuals who earn up to 120 percent of the federal poverty level—that’s $37,440 annually for a family of four, or $18,072 for an individual. However, according to CSS, this expansion still excludes many city dwellers who struggle to cover their transit expenses, including those earning minimum wage, causing only 34% of eligible residents to be part of the program. It’s estimated that an extra $54.2 million would be needed to extend the program to include residents earning up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
During her State of the City address this week, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams highlighted the expansion of Fair Fares as one of her budget priorities for the year, emphasizing the need for improved access to ensure the program reaches those in dire need of support. This would enable more residents to utilize the public transit system. Notably, City Hall did not directly respond to the advocacy for program expansion but shared a statement from Mayor Eric Adams, who expressed eagerness to review the Speaker’s proposals and to continue enhancing the city’s collaboration with the City Council to fulfill their mutual objectives.
Support for widening the Fair Fares program is also evident among state lawmakers. This week, budget proposals were put forth that suggest significant increases in funding: the Assembly recommended adding $127.5 million to Albany’s next budget, due April 1, to extend eligibility to those earning up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, while the Senate proposed expanding the discounts to include commuter rail lines within the city.
The high cost of transit not only affects residents’ ability to travel but extends to broader social implications. Chatterjee noted that individuals reported missing important commitments such as educational programs, job interviews, medical appointments, and even recreational activities due to restricted mobility, which highlights the critical nature of the issue. The survey also uncovered that transit costs disproportionately impact certain demographics, with over a third of low-income working mothers and 37 percent of low-income Latino respondents struggling to afford fares—higher than their Black, Asian, or white counterparts. In response to these challenges, CSS is calling on the city to enhance efforts to raise awareness about the Fair Fares program. Although participation has nearly doubled since 2020 to about 320,000 individuals, this figure represents just a fraction of those who are eligible.
It has been said that the Mayor’s office has committed to continuing its outreach efforts through targeted social media campaigns and collaborations with community groups for training.
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Fair Fares should have been expanded a long time ago. If we think about it why should ANYONE have to skip medical appointments because they can’t afford a MetroCard… not being able to paid for a metrocard, and you get sick, the hospital bill will be so much greater so if they can’t pay for a metrocard already how will we expect them to cover the hospital bill? One reason why homelessness is a problem
There’s also inflation. Last time I went to get groceries, it costed me 10 dollars for a small pack of hot dog bun
How are we supposed to have an equitable city if people can’t even afford to commute? I consider myself to be in middle class, and although i do pay for the fares, i absolutely hate it because those costs do stack up overtime
The fact that minimum wage workers aren’t eligible for Fair Fares shows how weird the system is
I think it’s because of how many minimum wage workers there are so if they do make it so that they can get fair fares, they will lose too much
yeah but that’s another problem which is how many people are being paid minimum wage
$54.2 million to expand Fair Fares to more people?????
I agree because that’s a drop in the bucket compared to what the city spend on other things.
The NYPD budget alone is in the billions, yet we can’t afford cheaper subway fares for low-income workers????
The MTA just raised fares again, and they’re going to keep increasing it but the problem with that is our wages aren’t increasing, so how are working-class New Yorkers supposed to keep up with these costs?
Every time I hear about government assistance programs, I’m always confused by how difficult they make it for people to even qualify
if it’s too widely usable, then the government will probably lose out on a lot of money/profit and it won’t be sustainable in the long run
Yeah but minimum age workers can’t even qualify which is really shocking ._.
So people are taking the subway to get to work, but they’re struggling to afford taking the subway which prevents them from going to work. That’s brutally bad
make it make sense 🙁
21% of moderate-income New Yorkers also struggling with fares? That just shows how unaffordable NYC has become for everyone
I’m in middle class, although in the lower end, but I can still attest to this. It’s nearly 6 dollars for a round trip, and I take the subway several times a day, so you can imagine how much I spend just on subway alone.
Instead of criminalizing fare evasion, how about making transit affordable so people don’t have to jump the turnstile?
NYPD spends millions on fare evasion enforcement when that money could just be used to fund Fair Fares expansion
the fact that Latino and low-income working mothers are struggling the most with transit costs means that there’s a glaring racial and gender equity issue here 🙁
ity outreach for Fair Fares has been terrible. Most eligible people don’t even know about it
Yes! I didn’t know about it until I read this article, so I just applied for it. The city needs to do a better job to spread this all around the city
that’s why only 34% of eligible residents are enrolled! NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE KNOWS ABOUT IT
there should be a campaign or like ads on it on subways and MTA buses
that’s going to cost more money and since they already provide the fair fare, they don’t want to spend a lot of their budget.
Yeah they’re def not going to make it big so that’s why we have to
with the cost of living skyrocketing transportation should be the last thing New Yorkers have to worry abou
the city can find money for stadiums and corporate deals
Funny story: I missed job interviews and doctor’s appointments because I can’t afford a ride
that’s actually crazy, are you doing better now?
Yep, I got a job near me. Thanks for asking!!