NEW YORK, Aug. 15 (Our New York News) — New York City’s bus system is losing fare revenue as more riders skip payment, even though Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s promise to make buses free has not been approved or funded.
MTA records show that paid bus ridership fell 7.7% in June 2026 from the same month a year earlier. The comparison month had 1.32 million paid riders. During the first six months of 2026, bus fare collections were reported to be $31 million below the level from the first half of 2025. Separate MTA budget documents showed collections were $35.7 million below the agency’s budget estimate for that period.
The numbers have put the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s finances at the center of a debate over whether public discussion of free buses is affecting fare payment.
How much fare evasion is being reported?
MTA data cited in reports put bus fare evasion at 44% in the third quarter of 2025. Through the second quarter of 2026, the rate was reported at 48.5% — nearly half of bus riders.
Fare evasion means boarding without paying the required fare. It is different from a free-bus program, in which the transit authority would formally eliminate the charge and arrange another source of funding.
The supplied MTA figures do not show how many dollars were lost specifically because of fare evasion. They also do not provide a breakdown by bus route, borough, payment method or rider income.
Did New York make buses free?
No. Mamdani campaigned on making city buses free and said July 8 that he would continue working toward that goal. But the city’s buses are operated by the MTA, whose state-level governance means the mayor cannot unilaterally eliminate fares across the system.
The 2026 New York state budget did not include a citywide free-local-bus program, according to reports on the enacted budget. The sources also do not identify an approved implementation plan, dedicated funding or a start date for such a program.
That leaves the current $3 bus fare in place. Riders who stop paying before fares are formally eliminated are still avoiding the existing charge, according to the MTA’s fare-evasion data.
Why does the MTA say the debate matters?
Janno Lieber, the MTA’s chair and chief executive, said public discussion of free buses was part of the reason fare evasion had increased. After an MTA board meeting, he said, “With malice towards none I say all of the talk of free buses, it has an impact.”
Lieber also said that unpaid rides shift the cost to taxpayers: “Somebody’s going to have to pay for that ride.”
Neal Zuckerman, chair of the MTA Finance Committee, made a similar argument, saying that “a perception that something is free is being treated as free” and that the effect was having a material financial impact on the agency.
The data show that fare evasion and the public debate occurred during the same period. They do not establish how much of the increase was caused by Mamdani’s campaign or statements. Other factors could also affect payment rates and ridership, but the supplied records do not analyze those causes.
How would a free-bus program be paid for?
Estimates vary. The Mamdani administration has estimated the annual cost at $700 million. The MTA has estimated about $1 billion, while the Independent Budget Office has been cited as estimating roughly $1.1 billion a year.
Those estimates describe the money needed to replace fare revenue and operate the program. They are separate from the reported shortfalls in the first half of 2026: the $31 million comparison with the first half of 2025 and the $35.7 million gap against the MTA’s budget estimate use different benchmarks.
MTA planning documents cited in reports had expected fare-evasion changes to reduce evasion by about 2% in 2026. The reported increase instead leaves the authority with less fare revenue than it expected.
What happens next?
For now, the MTA’s bus fare remains in effect, and the authority continues to rely on fare collections as part of its operating finances. Mamdani has said he still supports eliminating the fare, but the supplied sources do not show that the proposal has been approved, funded or scheduled.
The central question is therefore not whether New York’s buses are already free. They are not. It is who would replace the fare revenue if the policy moves forward — and how the MTA will address the financial effects of riders skipping payment before any such change is made official.
