New York’s earlier fare-free bus pilot did not produce a clear speed improvement. During the school-month portion of the trial, average end-to-end speeds declined 2.2% on the participating routes and 2.3% systemwide, according to the MTA’s evaluation. The agency found that 12% of riders on those routes were new to them, while existing riders used the routes more often.
The pilot ran on one route in each borough from Sept. 24, 2023, until fare collection resumed Sept. 1, 2024. The MTA put its full 12-month cost at $16.475 million, including lost fare revenue, effects on nearby services, Access-A-Ride costs and initial expenses. Those results provide a practical benchmark as transit advocates press for faster and less expensive service.
Organizing beyond individual bus projects
The Riders Alliance’s Fix the Bus campaign is focused on organizing riders along selected corridors in three boroughs. Streetsblog New York City first reported the launch; amNewYork reported that the target corridors are Flatbush, Utica and Church avenues in Brooklyn; Northern Boulevard in Queens; and Tremont Avenue and Fordham Road in the Bronx, according to amNewYork.
Campaign manager Divya Sundaram told amNewYork that Riders Alliance wants to expand its membership and establish local organizing hubs, each led by five to ten people. The group also plans to assign a lead organizer to each focus area and hold events for riders to discuss their commutes and meet other riders, according to Streetsblog New York City. AmNewYork reported plans for a members meeting and rider assemblies in the three boroughs over the following two months.
The campaign’s stated political goal is to mobilize bus riders to press elected officials on decisions about bus lanes and fare-free service, Streetsblog New York City reported. Sundaram compared the effort with labor and tenant organizing, the outlet reported. These are reported campaign aims and plans, rather than evidence that the proposed organizing hubs or rider assemblies have already been established.
The policy and funding questions
The campaign comes as Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration advances a fast-bus agenda, while the longer-term proposal for free buses still raises funding questions. Streetsblog New York City reported that Mamdani incorporated his fast-and-free-bus vision into a city plan and that Gov. Kathy Hochul endorsed a joint city-MTA effort to increase bus speeds. The outlet also reported that two earlier mayors’ bus-priority plans did not free buses from traffic or reverse ridership declines.
Estimates for fare-free service vary. A New York City Independent Budget Office analysis put the annual cost of making all city buses free at $652 million, according to Streetsblog Empire State. That outlet reported that Mamdani estimated a fast-and-free system would cost $600 million to $700 million a year. In a separate proposal, Mamdani put the cost of city and state payments to the MTA for free buses at about $800 million annually, according to CBS New York.
NYC-DSA’s Transit Working Group has also started bus-rider outreach through its Fast & Free Buses campaign, combining support for bus-priority projects with a longer-term push for fare-free service, according to Streetsblog Empire State. Separately, the MTA reported that city bus ridership rose 8.1% in 2025 to 442 million annual rides, reversing a 4.2% decline from 2023 to 2024.
Projects underway, and community concerns
Some work is already taking place on Fix the Bus corridors. The city has begun converting part of Flatbush Avenue into a rapid bus corridor, completed a busway on Tremont Avenue and is adding bus lanes on Fordham Road, amNewYork reported. The status of these projects differs from the campaign’s broader organizing plans.
Fordham’s enforcement record
A past corridor-specific finding offers a separate measure of progress: according to NYC DOT, bus speeds on Fordham Road did not significantly change after automated camera enforcement was implemented in 2022. That enforcement result is distinct from the campaign’s current organizing and street-improvement plans.
Some residents in bus-dependent neighborhoods worry that bus upgrades could primarily benefit newcomers rather than established communities, Streetsblog New York City reported. Riders Alliance policy and communications director Danny Pearlstein told the outlet that the group plans to highlight buses’ role in outer-borough, Black and brown, low-income and working-class communities. Sundaram identified nurses, home-care workers, teachers and students among those who rely on buses, according to the same report.
Citywide bus speeds reached 8.5 miles per hour in August, the highest monthly average since August 2022, according to Streetsblog New York City’s earlier reporting. The city and state have also set a goal of raising speeds by 20% on 50 priority corridors, the outlet reported. Whether those targets, the fare-free proposals and the Riders Alliance organizing effort translate into lasting improvements remains unsettled; the MTA pilot’s speed results show that eliminating fares alone did not guarantee faster trips.
