Mamdani has pledged free buses for New York, could London be next?
"If New York City can consider making buses free, so can London and other big world cities", say campaigners Fare Free London.
Zohran Mamdani stormed to victory in the New York mayoral election yesterday, with a pledge to “lower the cost of living for working-class New Yorkers”.
He's the first Muslim mayor of New York and at 34, the youngest in over a century.
Coming from the left of a chaotic democrat party, Mamdani describes himself as a democratic socialist and his message has consistently focussed on affordability, covering housing, childcare, groceries and public transport.
He has pledged to freeze rents, provide free child care up to the age of five, set up a chain of municipally-controlled grocery shops and scrap bus fares - one of his key election promises is to make New York's buses “fast and free”.
Campaigners Fair Free London have a vision that sees transport provided as a public service, alongside health care, education and public parks.
They argue that free public transport is socially just and improves people's quality of life, "opening the city to all". It would also improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"If New York City can consider making buses free, so can London"
Pearl Ahrens of Fare Free London said: “Mamdani's win has international resonance. If New York City can consider making buses free, so can London and other big world cities.
“There are smaller cities successfully running free public transport - more than 130 of them in Brazil, and European capitals including Luxemburg, Belgrade (Serbia) and Tallinn (Estonia).
"Glasgow, with more than 600,000 people, is committed to running a pilot scheme next year.
“New York City, like London, has more than 8 million people, and can take this to the next level.”
The zero-fares scheme would have to be agreed with New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which is run by the New York state government. The scheme would most likely be achieved by back-filling the $600-800m per year hole it would leave in the MTA budget, from the New York City budget.
New York transport researcher Charles Komanoff said in an interview with Fare Free London that Mamdani’s election campaign - based on “affordability” via free buses, free child care, freezing rents and low-cost groceries - had powerful symbolism in the city.
Forecast to increase bus use by 23%
Komanoff's appraisal of the scheme was published in April this year by the Nurture Nature Foundation and has become a powerful resource for supporters of free buses.
It concludes that, in purely financial terms, the scheme will produce benefits for New Yorkers worth at least twice as much as the $600m+ it will cost.
The report estimates that the scheme will increase bus use by 23%, and will simplify bus travel, as boarding will be quicker, and speed up journey times by at least 7%.
Komaroff said that funds for the scheme would most likely have to be transferred from the city’s budget to the MTA. “Ethically and politically, this money should be raised by taxes on millionaires and billionaires.”
Trial on five NYC bus routes
Fare-free travel was trialled on five New York City bus routes during the year to September 2024.
Mamdani and New York state senator Michael Gianaris reported that the pilot “dramatically increased” passenger numbers by 30% on weekdays and 38% at weekends, providing “clear economic relief to low-income riders”. Assaults on drivers fell by 38%.
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