Half-price subway and bus fares for 340,000 more New Yorkers

Fair Fares cuts subway and bus fares in half for New Yorkers with low incomes. It also covers the Staten Island Railway, the Roosevelt Island Tram, and Access-A-Ride trips. Until now, you qualified only if your household earned up to 150% of the federal poverty level, about $23,940 a year for one person.

Starting November 30, 2026, the limit rises to 200% of the poverty level: about $31,920 for one person or $66,000 for a family of four. That makes about 340,000 more people eligible, for roughly 1.3 million in all. You must be 18 to 64 and live in the city. You apply through the city’s Fair Fares NYC program, and the new rule also drops the yearly renewal for participants who enrolled while receiving public assistance and continue to receive it.

The City Council pushed the expansion in budget talks, and Council Speaker Julie Menin won $54 million more for Fair Fares than Mayor Zohran Mamdani proposed in May. The mayor agreed to it in the city’s $125.8 billion budget for fiscal year 2027, bringing the program’s funding to $174.6 million. Menin called Fair Fares indispensable but underused; only about 40% of people who already qualify are signed up.

To close that gap, the Council in September 2026 passed a bill from Council Member Crystal Hudson that fast-tracks enrollment for people on SNAP or cash assistance and requires the city to study automatic enrollment.