City Council Members Laurie Cumbo (D-Crown Heights, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill), Carlos Menchaca (D-Sunset Park, Red Hook) joined other legislators and advocates on the steps of City Hall earlier today to demand that Mayor Bill de Blasio include ‘Fair Fares’ program in the City’s final budget.
The ‘Fair Fares’ program, subsidized half-priced bus and subway fares for working-age city residents living at or below the federal poverty line. The program is aimed to help students, homeless veterans, single mothers, working poor and others struggling with public transportation access.
De Blasio omitted funds for Fair Fares, a proposal by the Community Service Society (CSS) and Riders Alliance, in his $84.7 billion preliminary budget citing the cost last month. As a result, the City Council proposed a pilot Fair Fares program be funded with $50 million in the FY 2018 budget.
“Something that we’ve been talking about over and over again about this incredible transportation system we have, that is touted across the world, is that if the public can’t afford it then it’s not public transit. Any way you cut it we need to solve this issue. But we also have to talk about the criminal justice system, of all of the summons that are issued right now [jumping turnstiles] is clogging our system -people who are just trying to get to work,” said Menchaca.
Cumbo, Chair of the Committee on Women’s Issues and co-chair of the Women’s Caucus highlighted the plight of single mothers and working women who are in desperate need of transportation accessibility to rise out of poverty.
“This is so important for moms who are working, for single-parent households, this is so important for young mothers who are taking their children to work with them, going to school, dropping them off at daycare, having to manage all of these different aspects. Mom’s really hold this city down. This particular budget requests is going to raise up women and families, it is going to raise up entire communities,” said Cumbo.
Currently a fare for the MTA for one-way in one-direction per person is $2.75. While a weekly unlimited card is $31 and a monthly unlimited card is $116.50. The reduced-fare program would only apply to the rates for a weekly and monthly MetroCard.
Based on an opinion poll conducted by the Community Service Society (CSS) and the Riders Alliance, 1-in-4 low-income New Yorkers said they struggle to pay bus and subway fares now. Under the program, 379,000 New Yorkers would initially be eligible for the discounted fares. “Budgets are about priorities – and giving New Yorkers a ‘fair fare’ means giving them a fair shot. At a time when the gap between those at the top and those at the bottom has never been greater, this is not just the right thing to do – it’s the commonsense economic thing to do. Working families shouldn’t have to choose between using public transportation and putting food on the table. We need to be a City that supports those in need — and helps them get ahead. When we give New Yorkers tools to climb the economic ladder, our entire City succeeds,” said City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer.
The city already subsidizes fares for seniors and students as well as middle and higher income commuters through a tax break. Fully funding the Fair Fares proposal would represent less than 0.3 percent of the City’s multi-billion dollar municipal budget.
