New Yorkers who use the city’s Fair Fares program to ride buses, trains and Access-a-Ride are still struggling to afford transit despite receiving half-off on fares, according to a new analysis.
Fair Fares is a city-run program that reduces the cost of transit rides by half for adults under 65 who make less than $23,940 a year.
A report from the nonprofit Community Service Society surveyed 1,616 adults under the age of 65 who already receive public benefits, a population that overlaps with those eligible for Fair Fares. Almost two in three of the survey’s respondents said it is still difficult to afford transit when they need it, and a third who were eligible for Fair Fares are unenrolled.
Citywide, less than half of eligible New Yorkers participate in the program with an overall enrollment rate of approximately 40%, or 379,910 people, according to March data from the city’s social services agency.
The report comes as the City Council considers bills that would automatically enroll eligible individuals in city benefit programs like Fair Fares and automatically give the Fair Fares discount to an individual earning as much as $31,920. Council members will discuss those proposals at a committee hearing on Wednesday.
One in five New Yorkers struggled to afford subway and bus fares, according to the Community Service Society’s latest survey. A person unable to afford a ride may try to beat the fare — a perennial problem for the MTA that has cost it $1 billion in lost revenue before, according to the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonprofit watchdog.
Despite robust outreach efforts by the city to promote the program, researcher Rachel Swaner said survey respondents called the application process “complicated and slow.”
“People have to apply for it separately, even though they have already reported the same info for programs like SNAP or cash assistance,” she said.
Fair Fares riders must also renew their enrollment each year by resubmitting proof of income eligibility.
The report calls for automatically enrolling residents when they are approved for other public benefits, and to expand Fair Fares by making transit free for those at or below 150% of the federal poverty level.
“Fair Fares has yet to achieve its promise of lower transit costs for millions of New Yorkers,” said Danny Pearlstein, policy director for the transit-advocacy organization Riders Alliance, who was not involved with the survey.
“The city should expand it both to reach more people and to deliver more affordable fares,” he added, calling for eligibility to expand to those making 300% of the federal poverty level — up to $47,880 for an individual or $99,000 for a family of four — and for current enrollees to receive free transit rides.
City Council Speaker Julie Menin supported free fares for currently eligible New Yorkers in her response to the mayor’s preliminary budget in April, calling Fair Fares a “lifeline for working New Yorkers.
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