The head of the MTA wants to make benefits in the New York subway more accessible: who can apply for them

New York City must fully refund its half-price MetroCard program for poor New Yorkers, also known as Fair Fares, Metropolitan Transportation Authority chief Janno Lieber said Feb. 7. The details of the program are AMNY.

Former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city council drastically cut funding for the city initiative during the pandemic, before restoring it midway through last year. But Lieber, who heads the state-run MTA, urged the mayor's office to send more money to help passengers in need. Many of them are essential workers and have never left Metro and buses during the COVID-19 crisis.

“At the moment when these people heroically continued to use public transport, the city reduced investment in the Fair Fares program, and this does not make sense, and we hope and expect this to be canceled,” Lieber told reporters during a press conference in Fulton Center February 7th.

Who is eligible to participate in the program

Fair Fares Program was launched in 2019when the City Department of Human Services purchased MetroCards from the MTA and resold them to eligible New Yorkers for a 50% discount on subway, bus, and Access-a-Ride fares.

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Passengers aged 18 to 64 who live at or below the federal poverty line may apply for the program. But during negotiations over the 2020 budget, de Blasio and the Council — then led by Speaker Corey Johnson — slashed its funding by 62% from $106 million to $40,5 million amid dwindling revenue due to the pandemic.

They replenished the amount to $53 million in 2021, just 0,05% of the city's massive $98,7 billion annual budget.

According to experts, just over a third of people living below the poverty line have already taken advantage of the program. Lieber said the city should bring fair fare allocation back to at least pre-pandemic levels.

The program will help nearly 1 million people

City Hall officials have previously said they will adjust funding to meet demand, citing declining passenger numbers during the pandemic era. At that time, funding returned only up to 50%. But Lieber pushed municipal officials to double recruit in 2022. DSS launched an advertising campaign to raise awareness last year, which resulted in an increase in registrations.

The program currently enrolls 268 people, according to its website, of the city's 574 working-age residents whose incomes meet the threshold, according to Debipriya Chatterjee, an economist with the Public Works Society, a non-profit organization that advocates for New Yorkers. with low income.

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The organization's president and chief executive officer, David Jones, also serves on the board. MTA and was the main supporter of Fair Fares in the group.

He previously said the city should raise the bar to the city's poverty level, which is higher than the feds', because it explains the high cost of living in the Five Boroughs.

That would entitle almost 1 million New Yorkers, or 932 residents to be exact, Chatterjee said. Lieber added that it makes sense for city officials to think about it.

A spokeswoman for the Speaker of the Council, Adrienne Adams, said lawmakers will discuss the allocation of funds for the upcoming budget in the coming months.

New York Mayor Eric Adams' office did not provide comment as of press time.