BILL NUMBER: S3887

SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public authorities law, in relation to the Fair
Fares NYC program

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To address New York's affordability crisis, ensure fare evasion is not a
crime of poverty, and increase transportation choices for resident of
subway deserts by expanding New York City's 'Fair Fares' income-based
fare discount program to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level and to the
LIRR and Metro-North within New York City.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 is the title, the Fair Fares Act.

Section 2 amends 1266 of the public authorities law to add a new subdi-
vision 16-a requiring the City of New York to expand the Fair Fares
              

program to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level and to the LIRR and Metro-
North within New York City in consultation with the Metropolitan Trans-
portation Authority and to conduct a public outreach campaign to
increase awareness and expand usage of the program.

Section 3 is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Since its launch in 2019 and expansion in 2023, the Fair Fares program
has proven to be a lifeline for nearly 325,000 New York City residents
living at 120% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) or below.  This
program, which allows working-age adults (aged 18-64) to access half-
price MetroCards for New York City Transit's subway and bus network, has
been instrumental in providing affordable transportation options to
those in need. Its expansion to 145% of the FPL will assist more New
Yorkers in need, but is not sufficient to meet the needs of the working
poor, including those making minimum wage.

Access to half-price fares is a game changer for low-income New Yorkers,
but far too few qualify at its current eligibility threshold. Expansion
to 200% or FPL would make approximately 450,000 additional New Yorkers
eligible, up from approximately 1.1 million who are eligible for Fare
Fares today according to analysis from the Permanent Citizens Advisory
Committee to the MTA.

The MTA's 2023 Blue-Ribbon Panel on fare evasion report explicitly
recommended raising the income eligibility threshold to 200% of FPL,
stating "from a fare evasion perspective, this expansion of Fair Fares
would be a significant win-win." Despite this, the city has increased
eligibility only incrementally, most recently to 145% of FPL. Fair Fares
must be expanded to 200% of FPL and to the LIRR and Metro-North within
New York City to serve the communities-particularly the working poor
living paycheck-to-paycheck or making minimum wage-that need relief in
their transportation budgets to make their commutes more affordable.
Expansion to the LIRR and Metro-North is particularly important for
low-income in subway deserts like Southeast and Northeastern Queens, the
Central and Western Bronx, and the Eastern Bronx, which will soon be
served by four new Metro-North stations that will be constructed as part
of the Penn Station Access project.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.