During the mayoral race, communist Zohran Mamdani made the promise of ‘free’ buses a central part of his campaign. He hasn’t delivered on this promise yet, but that hasn’t stopped New Yorkers from pretending that he did and skipping bus fares.
The lost revenue is costing the city millions, which could put a damper on the mayor’s many other promises of free stuff.
It’s just the sort of basic economics that people on the left refuse to understand.
FOX News reports:
New Yorkers take Zohran Mamdani free bus promise literally as MTA loses millions in skipped fares
Political promises of “free buses” in New York City are contributing to a spike in fare evasion that is costing the city’s mass transit system millions of dollars, transit officials warn.
In July, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chairman Janno Lieber blamed political rhetoric for fueling fare evasion, though he never mentioned Mayor Zohran Mamdani by name.
“There’s a trend that broke out,” Lieber told reporters following a meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board, according to the New York Post. “With malice towards none, I say all of the talk of free buses, it has an impact.”
The MTA reported that paid bus ridership fell nearly 8% in June compared to the same month last year. During Mamdani’s first six months in office, bus fare revenue fell by $31 million compared to the first half of 2025. Agency estimates show nearly half of bus riders now skip the $3 fare.
Mamdani made the slogan “fast and free buses” a major part of his 2025 mayoral campaign. However, the MTA is controlled by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state, rather than City Hall. While the mayor and Hochul unveiled plans on July 8 to focus instead on speeding up bus routes, experts and union leaders say the “free bus” rhetoric has already contributed to fare evasion.
Who could have predicted this, besides every conservative in the country?
Ward Clark comments at RedState:
Look, there’s good reason for all this: Fare-skippers do this knowing that there will be no consequences for jumping the turnstile, just as the city’s growing homeless population knows that there are no consequences for camping on the streets or in city parks, or shooting up in public places. This seems to be a common problem in all too many of our big cities today.
Now, though, the Big Apple would seem to be setting up a confrontation between city and state, and it would be fascinating to be a fly on the wall listening in on a conversation between Mamdani and New York Governor Kathy Hochul, in which the governor demands, “Would you please just stop talking about free buses already!”
It’s not rocket science, it’s just human nature.
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