If you’ve lived in New York City long enough, you’ve likely experienced nearly every side of the MTA. Sometimes you’ll sit on a motionless train in a tunnel for ten minutes, barely squeeze onto a packed subway during rush hour, or watch a crowd of kids stream through an emergency exit without paying while everyone else tapped their OMNY card. As a New Yorker who uses the public transit system myself just about every day, I’ve run into all these situations and more. Public transportation is one of the most essential services any major city can provide—but in the United States, it rarely comes without major challenges.
The biggest public transportation system in the country is undoubtedly the New York City MTA, with 472 Subway stations spread across 665 miles of track throughout four of the five boroughs as well as over 300 bus routes in all five boroughs. However, a system that big in the United States is bound to have its problems, and the MTA is no stranger to those from all different sides; crime and cleanliness are frequent concerns for everyday commuters.
The Cost of Fare Evasion
Possibly the biggest problem the MTA is dealing with, however, is fare evasion. According to the Citizens Budget Committee, fare evasion cost the agency about $1 billion in revenue in 2024. Part of this appears to be a post-pandemic trend, as the amount in 2019 was just over $300 million, but with the peak of the pandemic over half a decade away, it doesn’t seem like it’s the only factor, or that the number will be that low again anytime soon without major action.
Over the past several months, the MTA has made some moves towards fighting fare evasion in the Subway. Turnstiles have received some modifications, with sleeves that have crescent-shaped barriers covering the arms to make jumping over or slipping between more difficult, and guards have been posted at some emergency exit gates, which have become commonly used by riders to evade fares, as they are frequently used by passengers exiting the station who just don’t want to go back through turnstiles, allowing people to easily slip in.
However, these adjustments are small in scale, and won’t likely make a meaningful difference in cutting down on fare evasion. A bigger step that the MTA plans to take is doing away with the current design of turnstiles altogether, replacing them with more modern fare gates that are currently in their testing phase at select stations. The gates are essentially clear doors in the place of traditional turnstiles, and the MTA claims that in addition to bringing down fare evasion, the gates will also speed up entry and exit as well as improve accessibility for disabled riders.
While MTA personnel and police officers stationed by the new gates have said they haven’t seen fare evasion at them, people are finding loopholes. Fox 5 NY reported that some commuters are throwing items over the gates, triggering sensors on the other side which allow the doors to open.
Ultimately though, the biggest source of fare evasion for the MTA is not within the Subway system, but with buses. It is very easy and common that people simply don’t pay the fare when boarding a bus, as they can just walk in, and the bus driver is in no real position to force them to pay, with their bigger concern being getting going and keeping to their schedule as closely as possible considering traffic and conditions.
Can Free Buses Work in NYC?
The city’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, ran on a platform with a revolutionary way to address this issue: make public buses fare-free altogether. Other details on this policy state intentions to make them faster by introducing priority lanes, expanding bus queue jump signals, and ensuring double parkers stay out of the way with dedicated loading zones. The idea led to obvious immediate pushback, with many insisting it wouldn’t be feasible. However, if the resolution were to be successful, it could seriously be meaningful to many people who don’t pay the fare not because they don’t feel like it, but because it genuinely isn’t within their budget.
It’s understandable that people have doubts about whether free buses in NYC is really an achievable goal. The most obvious question is certainly: how does it get paid for?
Mamdani estimates the yearly cost at $800 million, which is certainly a daunting number, but iterates: “In the context of a city budget that’s north of $100 billion and a state budget that’s north of $220 billion, this is just pennies.”
More specifically, he proposes an increase to the corporate tax rate that will bring it to the same level as New Jersey’s 11.5%, in addition to a flat 2% tax rate on those who make $1 million or more.
Few people seem to doubt Mamdani’s sincerity about wanting to make this happen. The real concern will be going through the red tape that comes with actually getting done, including going through Governor Kathy Hochul, who has expressed doubt on whether such action is attainable. Executives at the MTA will also likely oppose the plan at its face due to the fact that their revenue mostly comes from fares.
The price of the fare itself has been increasing more regularly over time. In 2015, it went from $2.50 to $2.75, and while that remained steady for over eight years, it saw a quiet jump to $2.90 in 2023, followed by the hike to $3 this year that many people had been dreading.
The move certainly seems too big to do overnight, in which case a compromise might be the best way to start, such as decreasing fares for people with lower incomes, progressively moving towards making buses free for all.
OMNY’s Growing Pains
The NY MTA has undergone a lot of change over the last several years. One of the biggest was the switch from MetroCards, which are no longer available to purchase at any station, to OMNY, a tap-to-pay system that first rolled out in 2019, and became more commonly used by commuters until MetroCards were officially phased out at the beginning of this year.
There are certainly some things that OMNY makes easier for people. For example, although it is an option, you don’t have to buy a physical card in order to pay the fare—you can just tap your phone, credit or debit card on the reader. OMNY card vending machines are also conveniently available at stations for those who may not have a credit card or phone. There is also the consideration of environmental superiority over MetroCards, as OMNY is keeping plastic for millions of MetroCards from being wasted.
The biggest benefit OMNY likes to advertise is the fare cap: the most you will ever pay for is 12 fares, or $35, a week. However, people have reported this excludes group trips (i.e. using the same card to pay for multiple people at once), as well as express bus fares (which can be $7), and OMNY is clear that the same card/phone must be used to qualify for free rides after reaching the cap.
There have been complaints on forums like Reddit that claim even with the purported fare cap and use of the same payment method each time, people are sometimes being charged more per week than the cap (which was only recently increased to $35 following a fare hike from $2.90 to $3 per ride at the beginning of this year). It is also more difficult to track spending with OMNY, which requires an account and checking online or at a machine how much has been spent and how much is left over.
Additionally, OMNY cards themselves are prone to overdrafting, sometimes leaving a negative balance. New systems always face kinks that need to be worked out in early stages, but OMNY has existed for over 6 years now, and as it’s now the only way to pay for public transit in the NYC MTA, the issues need to be addressed to demonstrate it will be effective in the long-term.
What Other Cities Are Trying
While NYC obviously has the biggest public transportation system, the second largest is that of Chicago. The CTA is a system with many similarities to the MTA, but some notable differences. While NYC allows certain groups such as seniors and those with disabilities to qualify for reduced fare, the CTA has programs making public transit free for U.S. military personnel, as well as seniors and people with disabilities enrolled in the Illinois Department on Aging’s Benefit Access Program.
Another difference that would have been a similarity without the introduction of OMNY is the ability to pay flat fees for unlimited fares using Chicago’s Ventra system. Similarly to OMNY, it allows tapping-to-pay, but in NYC, OMNY effectively eliminated the former option to buy an unlimited MetroCard in favor of the fare cap. Considering the issues people have described regarding OMNY fare caps, giving the choice of unlimited rides over a given period of time for a flat rate in addition to the fare cap could work towards improving the system.
Another city attempting to make public transit more affordable is Boston. Three bus lines, MBTA Route 23, 28, and 29, were made free for all passengers to ride in March of 2022, through a program which is set to continue until the end of June of this year. It also allows users of the RIDE paratransit to ride for free as long as their trips begin and end within ¾ of a mile of the established free routes. The routes primarily serve those living in Mattapan, Roxbury, and Dorchester, all of which are considerably diverse neighborhoods, with Dorchester being the largest in the city.
The policy was implemented by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, and has seen some benefits of expediency, as riders can board through front or back doors of the bus and don’t need to concern themselves with paying the fare with money or a CharlieCard, Boston’s equivalent of NYC’s OMNY cards.
Despite the appearance of success on the surface, the program has had drawbacks. One of the most significant issues was an increase in congestion, which has led to slower travel times. The buses have also seen overcrowding, meaning more frequent stops and a more physically uncomfortable situation for passengers.
Ultimately, the main question in this case posed to riders is: would you rather be able to ride for free but get stuck in traffic, or have to pay a fare but get to your destination earlier? The answer may very well vary from person to person depending on their financial situation. Those with a lower income may need to prioritize saving money, and would have to adjust to a free system by leaving earlier to allow for the increased commute time. Those with a more stable income are likely to prefer a more efficient system, even if it means they have to pay for it.
Where We Go From Here
Each major city will face unique circumstances in any attempt to make public transportation free, because every city has different problems, concerns, and populations. Something that worked for Boston may not work for New York, or certain problems with a system in New York may not be transposed to Boston.
There isn’t a single solution that will fix public transportation in America overnight. Every city has different needs, budgets, and commuting patterns. But whether the discussion is about fare evasion, accessibility, or affordability, one thing is clear: public transit isn’t simply another government service. For millions of people, it’s how they get to work, school, appointments, and back home again. The debate shouldn’t just be about how much transit costs—it should also be about what kind of city we want to build around it.
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