New York City’s subway and bus fares increased to $3 per ride from 4 January 2026, just days after Zohran Mamdani assumed office as mayor, prompting online criticism and political debate over his campaign promise to make city buses free.
The 10-cent hike, which raised the base fare from $2.90 to $3.00, took effect on Sunday, 4 January 2026, as part of a previously approved pricing plan by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). It marks the first time in the system’s 120-year history that a single subway or local bus ride has crossed the $3 threshold.
The MTA said the increase was part of its long-standing policy of incremental fare adjustments every two years to offset rising labour, energy, and maintenance costs, and to fund system upgrades, including the rollout of the OMNY digital payment platform. Officials noted that the decision was finalised before Mamdani took office and was not made by City Hall.
In addition to the base fare increase, express bus fares rose from $7.00 to $7.25, while fares on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad increased by up to 4.5%. Tolls on MTA-run bridges and tunnels were also raised by 7.5%.
The fare hike comes weeks after Mamdani, a 34-year-old Democratic Socialist, won the November 2025 mayoral election and was sworn in this month. During the campaign, Mamdani repeatedly pledged to work toward making city buses free, arguing that public transport costs were becoming unaffordable for working-class New Yorkers.
When asked during an October 2025 campaign interaction how free buses would be funded, Mamdani said the plan would involve replacing the revenue currently generated from bus fares. After taking office, he appointed a new transportation chief with a mandate to make buses “fast and free,” though no formal policy change has yet been announced.
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City officials and transit authorities have stressed that implementing a free-bus system would require substantial new funding and approval from the state-run MTA. Kathy Hochul, the Governor of New York, has publicly stated that there is currently no budgetary provision to support a city-wide free-bus programme.
The MTA has sought to cushion the impact of the fare hike through OMNY’s automatic fare-capping system, under which riders using the same card or device will not pay more than $35 over seven days, equivalent to 12 rides. Reduced-fare riders are capped at $17.50 per week. The agency has described this as a flexible alternative to traditional unlimited passes, which are being phased out along with MetroCards.
Despite these measures, commuter advocacy groups have warned that the higher fares will add pressure on low-income residents. A 2024 report by the Community Service Society found that nearly one in five New Yorkers already struggles to afford public transportation.
While the fare increase was approved independently of the new mayor, the timing has intensified scrutiny of Mamdani’s free-bus pledge. For now, subway and bus riders face higher costs, even as discussions continue between City Hall, the MTA, and state authorities over whether, and how, the promise of free buses can be realised.
Source: TimeOut New York
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