For a Just Post-Covid Recovery, Make Five ‘Fair Fares’ Reforms
On June 11th, 2018 then-Mayor Bill de Blasio and Speaker Corey Johnson agreed to fund Fair Fares, a program that provides a 50 percent discount on eligible subway and bus fares for all New Yorkers below the Federal poverty level. It was the culmination of a hard-fought campaign that illuminated the immense transit burden many New Yorkers face, and continue to face today, especially against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and a debilitating economic recession.
The Fair Fares program, when implemented effectively, can be key to achieving transit equity, and more broadly now must be part of an equitable recovery for New York City.
The need for transit affordability today is even more acute than when Fair Fares was rolled out. Data from the Community Service Society’s “Unheard Third Survey” – the longest-running public poll of low-income households in the nation – shows that transit affordability remains a formidable challenge for low-income New Yorkers. One in four said that they often struggled to pay subway or bus fares. Even among New Yorkers moderately well off, with incomes between 200 to 400 percent of the Federal poverty level, 17 percent reported that they also struggle to afford transit.
From having to forego job opportunities, food, and sustenance, to missing medical appointments, the resulting costs to New Yorkers go way beyond the charge at the turnstile.
Fair Fares can be the gamechanger New Yorkers desperately need. At this time, 270,000 of the city’s eligible individuals have enrolled in the program; over 700,000 are not yet enrolled. The Unheard Third survey shows that 62 percent of eligible respondents said they had not applied for the program. Of them, 14 percent said they did not even know how to apply.
Given this, we present five recommendations to strengthen the Fair Fares program:
Develop an aggressive outreach and awareness campaign. Since March 2021, when vaccines became available and the city started gradually opening up, Fair Fairs enrollment has picked up. But the pace of increase has been only around 1.5 percent a month. This is in stark contrast to regular subway and bus ridership numbers, which have increased at the rate of nearly 10 percent per month over the same time.
It is unclear how much the City is doing, or has done, on Fair Fares outreach. Like any new program, it will only benefit New Yorkers when they know about it and participate. In addition to placing ads on subways and buses, we need a more targeted approach to reaching New Yorkers in need who are eligible. Engagement with local community leaders and organizations, ads in ethnic newspapers, schools, houses of worship, local shops and businesses, and local train and bus stops would make a tremendous difference.
The City should be proactive in reaching CUNY students and public housing (NYCHA) residents in particular; many are eligible for Fair Fares and would benefit significantly. For example, nearly half of NYCHA households in the 2020 Unheard Third Survey reported temporary or permanent job or income losses related to the pandemic. Furthermore, a recent Center for an Urban Future report found that the most common non-tuition financial barrier for CUNY community college students is the cost of a MetroCard.
Streamline the process of enrollment and renewal. Enrollment in Fair Fares can take up to six weeks and replacement of lost or stolen cards can take up to two weeks. We recommend streamlining the process of signing up for the program, especially screening for it whenever individuals apply for any State, City, or Federal programs and services. Also, we know a large fraction of the eligible population still struggles with internet access. Both lack of access to quality internet and access to digital devices are huge impediments. Fair Fares paperwork should be integrated into more analog interactions, either in-person or through mailings, making it easier to sign up.
Improve data transparency and sharing. We need more data on Fair Fares. For example, we don’t know how many people actually use the program across boroughs, their races and ethnicities, gender identities, and other critical demographic data. The City must provide, at minimum, data on enrollment on a regular basis, by race/ethnicity, gender, and borough of residence. Such data would help guide outreach efforts, help estimate adequate funding levels, and help community advocates target their efforts effectively and efficiently.
Restore Fair Fares funding back to pre-pandemic levels. When it was launched, Fair Fares was allocated $106 million. During the last two years, funding was slashed to $41 million in Fiscal Year 2020, then raised to $53 million for FY 2021. We commend the mayor and City Council for now baselining the program at $75 million going forward – a critical step in the right direction. However, as transit usage increases, and with better outreach, we expect enrollment to grow significantly. The City should be prepared to increase funding to avoid a situation where funds run out – likely in the near term.
Expand eligibility to all New Yorkers with incomes below 200 percent of the Federal poverty level. The Federal poverty level, as it exists, does not take into account the huge cost-of-living expenses – from housing to food and beyond – that New Yorkers have to pay.
A recent study comparing 12 different transit agency-administered reduced-fare programs in the United States found that the Fair Fares program had the strictest income eligibility requirement. Most had income eligibility thresholds up to 200 percent of the Federal poverty level. To ensure that the Fair Fares program reaches even more hard-hit New Yorkers, the City must consider expanding eligibility to those with incomes less than 200 percent of the Federal poverty level. An estimated 1.2 million New Yorkers would benefit, all of whom would be at or near poverty.
Transit affordability is one of the lower-hanging fruits on the path to an inclusive recovery. Fair Fares is an incredibly small fraction of the City’s budget, but will improve hundreds of thousands of lives. If the City administration, the Council, and all of us are serious about an equitable recovery, we have to ensure that the Fair Fares program reaches as many New Yorkers in need as possible.