The Fare Ain't Fair
So long as 1 in 5 New Yorkers are struggling to afford transit…
STOP THE FARE HIKE! THE POOR WON’T PAY MORE!
Sign the Petition!
WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, demand An affordability crisis envelops the lives of those in New York City, a mostly working, poor and, non-white city. Movement around this city is necessary for survival and public transportation is the means through which the poor and working people achieve that movement. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) receives funding for its operation through local and state taxes while unfairly demanding additional payment at the fare box from the ones suffering the most from this unprecedented affordability crisis. For the poor and working people of this city who struggle to pay for the basic necessities of life in this city amidst a crumbling economy, the $2.90 fare is a burden too much to bear. In fact, the MTA plans to increase the fare to $3.00 by January 2026. Currently, NYC offers a program called Fair Fares that reduces the fare in half for those who make below 145% the Federal Poverty Line (FPL). This is not enough!
Our demands our two-fold:
- MTA Board vote “NO” on proposal to raise the fare in January 2026, as well as all future fare hikes
- The Fair Fares program be expanded to include those who are living at and below 400% the FPL
Sign the Petition!
As of January 2025, New Yorkers earning up to 145% of the federal poverty level (FPL) qualify for reduced fares through the NYC Fair Fare.
This eligibility leaves out millions of working-class and poor NYers!
Go to nyc.gov/FairFares, check your eligibility, enroll (if possible), and then join us in the fight to expand this program to include earners up to 400% of FPL ($60,240 for an individual)
The Fare Ain’t Fair Campaign demands the ‘Fair Fares’ NYC program be expanded to include earners up to 400% of the Federal Poverty Line.
Riders Safety
With more than half of all New Yorkers living in or at the brink of poverty, it is beyond reason that the MTA would raise the fare from $2.75 to $2.90, and well within reason that fare evasion would lead to an increased material hardship for folks and they would have to find ways to get around these hardships (i.e. hopping or going under the turnstile, going through the “emergency door”).
Between 2017 & 2024 the police made a total of 23,049 arrests for fare evasion and 58% (or 13,455) of those arrests were Black people. A similar pattern is found when we examine ticketing for fare evasion. Of the total 472 subway stations in the city, Livonia Ave (L), Far Rockaway- Mott Ave (A) and Woodlawn (4) were 3 of 100 stations where fare evasion summonses were concentrated resulting in just a handful of stations (only 1⁄4) of stations accounting for 70% of fare evasion tickets. It is not a coincidence that these 3 stations across 3 different boroughs are in predominantly Black and low-income neighborhoods.
At the root of the uptick in fare enforcement across the city, is the criminalization of those who are struggling to survive under the oppressive economic conditions… aka the criminalization of poverty. With more than 56% of New Yorkers considered as low-income or living in poverty, this is not just a war on Black people or on poverty. It is a war on New Yorkers.
Derrell Mickles was shot by the NYPD in 2024 for not paying the fare at Sutter Ave. L train station in Brooklyn. They shot him on a crowded platform, striking 2 innocent bystanders, one of them in the head. MTA & NYPD criminalize the impoverishment of working-class and poor people, many of whom are Black.
View the full Stop the Frisks, Stop the Fare D12M Report (2024)
Transit Worker’s Safety
50% of assaults on bus operators are the result of a dispute at the farebox. A more accessible and affordable transit system for riders is a safer work environment for transit workers.
