Mayor Zohran Mamdani wants to make the city’s buses free. To many riders, they already are — a trend transit officials are finding hard to reverse.
Nearly half of New York’s bus riders skipped paying the fare this year through June, in line with the rate in the final quarter of 2025 and up from 44% in the period before that, according to data from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
It’s a setback for the agency, which had expected to reduce fare evasion by about 2% this year. And it comes as Mamdani signals a continued commitment to fulfilling a campaign pledge of making buses free.
The Financial Hit
The persistent fare evasion is hurting the MTA’s farebox collections on buses. Revenue from bus fares is $35.7 million below budgeted estimates for the first six months of 2026, according to MTA documents.
Neal Zuckerman, chair of the MTA’s finance committee, said during a Monday meeting that while he understands there may be political and affordability reasons for wanting free buses, “it is not the right approach for this organization at this point, and frankly, it’s having a material financial impact on us by just talking about it. A perception that something is free is being treated as free.”
To be sure, even with the rampant fare evasion, the MTA pulled in about $850 million from its buses last year.
The Politics of Free Buses
Mamdani, MTA officials, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul earlier this month unveiled a program to make buses faster by adding more designated lanes, updating traffic signaling, and expanding all-door boarding. That plan doesn’t include making buses free for everyone, though the mayor said he continues to push for such a change.
“We’ll continue not only to believe, but to work towards making our bus system free as well,” Mamdani said on July 8 at a press event.
While the MTA is a state agency and not under the city’s control, four of its board seats are recommended by the mayor.
Fare Evasion Trends
The agency made New York City buses free, temporarily, during the height of the pandemic. About 23% of bus riders avoided the fare at the end of 2020, with that percentage soaring to 50.6% in the second quarter of 2024. The MTA started to reverse that trend, bringing fare evasion down to 44% in the third quarter of 2025, but it has since inched back up.
Unarmed security teams called Eagle Teams have been riding MTA buses to watch and see if riders pay the fee and hand out summons for those who fail to pay. The teams have been using hand-held devices to verify payment, similar to systems in Europe.
MTA Chief Financial Officer Jai Patel said: “What we’re seeing is that it’s not materializing at the rate that we have projected.”
The Affordability Argument
Mamdani’s free-bus aspiration is part of a broader focus on making the city more affordable for working New Yorkers who struggle to pay for groceries, child care, rent, and public transportation.
“The fact that some people are unable to afford bus fare highlights the affordability crisis in our city,” said Jeremy Edwards, a spokesperson for Mamdani. “Whether you are trying to get to work or drop your child off at daycare, you shouldn’t have to choose between paying for the bus or paying your bills.”
The Bottom Line
Nearly half of New York City bus riders are skipping the fare as Mayor Zohran Mamdani pushes for free buses. The MTA has lost $35.7 million in projected fare revenue this year, and officials say the perception that buses may become free is making fare evasion worse. The MTA has deployed unarmed security teams to enforce payment, but fare evasion rates remain stubbornly high. Mamdani says he remains committed to making buses free as part of his affordability agenda.
