Starting Sunday, one MTA bus route will be free in each New York City borough.
Passengers will notice that there is a digital display on the front and side of the bus indicating that it is free of charge.
Free buses operate on the following routes:
- of B60which runs from Canarsie, Brooklyn to Williamsburg Bridge Plaza.
- of M116, Manhattan’s crosstown buses primarily run on 116th Street.
- of Q4which runs between Cambria Heights and Jamaica Center in southeastern Queens.
- of S46 and S96, This counts as one route on Staten Island, running between the St. George Ferry Terminal and West Shore Plaza.
- of BX18, It runs in a loop between Undercliff Avenue or Sedgwick Avenue and the Grand Concourse in the western Bronx.
The free buses are part of a state budget deal that lawmakers struck with Gov. Kathy Hochul in exchange for new taxes and more funding for the MTA.
The transit authority plans to study the results of the free bus pilot over a period of up to one year.
“Getting more New Yorkers to use public transportation must be at the forefront of our plan for a greener New York. Making the line free is the beginning of our journey to do just that,” Queens Assemblyman Zoran Mamdani said in a statement.
The MTA did not charge bus fares for nearly six months during the pandemic.
Bus ridership remains down nearly 40% on most days compared to pre-pandemic levels. The MTA says the actual number of passengers is likely higher than official numbers because of rampant fare evasion.
Richard Davey, president of the New York City Transit Authority, said he is not concerned about the five free buses being crowded.
“We welcome the increase in ridership. We have plenty of space in our vehicles, but we will be watching to see if we need to add more service,” New York City Transit Authority President Richard Davey said at Wednesday’s MTA board meeting. Ta.
These routes serve approximately 44,000 of the agency’s 1.3 million weekday bus riders.
Last week, the MTA launched a new fare evasion crackdown campaign on local buses, but the agency hasn’t said exactly where it’s conducting the crackdowns. MTA report It was recently discovered that 37% of bus users, or 700,000 people, do not pay their fares.
Progressive lawmakers are pushing for free MTA bus service to help poor New Yorkers.
The OMNY machine is covered inside the bus so passengers do not have to pay. The MTA uses automated passenger counters to monitor ridership.