MTA Chair Janno Lieber on Wednesday threw cold water on his agency’s ongoing free bus pilot program, expressing concern that it “sends the wrong message” to riders even as Albany lawmakers are in 11th-hour talks on potentially expanding it.
Lieber made the remarks in conversation with Crain’s New York Business Editor Cory Schouten, at the organization’s Power Breakfast at the New York Athletic Club on Wednesday morning. The transit honcho told the assembled power players that he believes free bus service, which has run on one line in each of the five boroughs since September, “send[s] the wrong message” to riders as the agency attempts to get a lid on fare evasion, which comprises about 40% of all riders and cost the authority nearly $700 million in lost revenue in 2022.
