Mamdani took a lot of heat for proposing something that isn't that feasible.
From the article someone linked to below:
Speaking on Oct. 30, MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber didn't seem amenable to the idea of making buses free for all riders.
"I want to make sure that people of limited income get priority in this discussion, that we're not just giving a ton of money to people who are riding the 104 on the Upper West Side, where I grew up, the bus on Broadway," Lieber said.
So the guy who might hold sway, hasn't been convinced yet its something he would be immediately on board with. The MTA is also still struggling financially, so losing even more revenue by giving away free bus trips isn't something the MTA will be cool with.
And then of course what nobody wants to talk about is how they would offset the losses in fair revenues? Why increases taxes of course:
Mamdani told CBS New New York back in September that he would pay for free buses, along with his other democratic socialist policies, in part, by increasing the corporate tax rate to 11.5% -- the same as New Jersey -- and instituting a flat 2% tax rate for individuals earning $1 million or more.
"My vision for making the most expensive city in the United States of America affordable is actually one that benefits all of us," he said.
The other problem with free busses is that in NYC people of all income brackets use public transit. That’s rare amongst cities. New Yorkers know that the subway is way faster than a chauffeured SUV for most trips and so you’ll see millionaires riding alongside those of far less means. Folks of all means also use the busses.
The MTA needs money and so making busses free for everyone is silly when many riders can certainly afford to pay. Various means tested approaches are in place and are the sort of thing that generally gets broader support.
The whole “tax the rich” line makes for good stump speeches but doesn’t work in practice. The rich have good accountants that let people avoid most of these ideas.
From the article someone linked to below:
Speaking on Oct. 30, MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber didn't seem amenable to the idea of making buses free for all riders.
"I want to make sure that people of limited income get priority in this discussion, that we're not just giving a ton of money to people who are riding the 104 on the Upper West Side, where I grew up, the bus on Broadway," Lieber said.
So the guy who might hold sway, hasn't been convinced yet its something he would be immediately on board with. The MTA is also still struggling financially, so losing even more revenue by giving away free bus trips isn't something the MTA will be cool with.
And then of course what nobody wants to talk about is how they would offset the losses in fair revenues? Why increases taxes of course:
Mamdani told CBS New New York back in September that he would pay for free buses, along with his other democratic socialist policies, in part, by increasing the corporate tax rate to 11.5% -- the same as New Jersey -- and instituting a flat 2% tax rate for individuals earning $1 million or more.
"My vision for making the most expensive city in the United States of America affordable is actually one that benefits all of us," he said.