cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/43191242
Feb. 13, 2026
Free buses? Really? Of all the promises that Zohran Mamdani made during his New York City mayoral campaign, that one struck some skeptics as the most frivolous leftist fantasy. Unlike housing, groceries and child care, which weigh heavily on New Yorkers’ finances, a bus ride is just a few bucks. Is it really worth the huge effort to spare people that tiny outlay?
It is. Far beyond just saving riders money, free buses deliver a cascade of benefits, from easing traffic to promoting public safety. Just look at Boston; Chapel Hill, N.C.; Richmond, Va.; Kansas City, Mo.; and even New York itself, all of which have tried it to excellent effect. And it doesn’t have to be costly — in fact, it can come out just about even.
If free buses strike you as wasteful, you’re not alone. Plenty of the beneficiaries would be people who can afford to pay. Does it make sense to give them a freebie? Yes, if it improves the life of the city, just as free parks, libraries and public schools do. Don’t think of it as a giveaway to the undeserving. Think of it as a gift to all New Yorkers in every community. We deserve it.
While I am broadly speaking in favour of free transit, one thing that should be noted in any conversation about it is that it often does not significantly increase ridership by users who were previously not using transit - the increase mainly comes from increased utilization by prior users, and sometimes you can get negative effects such as the newly free transit trips displacing walking.
Hence, other investments into the transit system may be prudent - for example, expanding the system, increasing headways and so on.
We should try to be brave enough to do all of the above, but sometimes you’re forced to choose one or the other.
Walking? Didn‘t know thats possible in the US!
My very limited experience says that it’s possible but risky and unpleasant. NYC is probably a bit different, as is always the case in the U.S.
Walking works quite well in Sweden however