New Yorkers are asking “free buses or 41 miles of New Subway?”
On Jan. 30, 2026 Bloomberg published a study to show that for the Annual $1 billion for subsidizing cost of free busing can actually fund 41 miles of new subway tracks; such as a subway connection to LaGuardia Airport and a cross Bronx line; over the next few decades.
During the 2025 New York City mayoral election the democratic candidate Zorhan Mamdani, and now current mayor, had run on a campaign of affordability. As part of his campaign promise he on multiple occasions said he would implement free MTA buses across the city. Following the small-scale free program he did, as the state assemblymen of New York’s 36th district (Astoria Queens), that was nicknamed “Fast & Free.”
Many financial experts however have voiced concerns regarding where the money to subsidize buses would come from should the city implement free buses. Fearing if the mayor’s office pushes for making the MTA buses free will lead to an increase in taxes, in order to cover the difference of an already struggling system. The MTA already run their buses at a net loss on account of the fact the MTA spends 25 percent of their annual budget on busing and only rakes in an annual ~700 million dollars from bus fare of the total annual $3.7 billion. Leading to many New Yorkers online and in general discussion discussing what they would prefer or which would be a better investment.
Jack Nierenberg, the Vice President of Passengers United, spoke on this. Passengers United is an organization known for its grassroots advocacy to promote more inclusive and accessible mass public transit, in the Tri-State area; particularly to benefit people who would be classified as underserved and or disenfranchised, like many with physical disabilities.
Nierenberg stated “Free buses are a nice concept, but they should not be NYC’s biggest priority.”
Then he explained that many New Yorkers in the outer boroughs use the bus in order to get to a subway station. So the money an individual would save by not paying for the bus would still just end up paying the MTA a higher fare regardless.
These sentiments were echoed by Jonathan Harris, a resident of the Bronx, who attends college in Brooklyn and works in Queens.
“I’m not sure if that’s a good idea because as it is right now, the MTA system is really bad and I believe making it free would cause more harm than good although it would be better to not pay for transportation which I wholeheartedly agree would benefit the people I also do believe that the quality of the system would be worse when it becomes free,” Harris stated.
We additionally reached out to The Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit (CAU) and the Public Engagement Unit (PEU) for comment regarding their perspective on the matter, but are yet to receive a response. The CAU’s website describes themselves as “The Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit (CAU) is the fundamental connection between City Hall and New York City residents throughout the five boroughs.”
Mamdani has previously stated “Free buses are an investment in our people and our economy — helping workers, small businesses, and every New Yorker…” (on X formerly Twitter).
