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Posted on 02/14/2026 7:19:26 AM PST by Libloather
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has made "fast and free buses" a defining promise of his administration, framing the proposal as both an affordability measure and a long-overdue fix for a bus system that advocates say has been neglected for decades. But his big swing seems poised to collide with the political realities of New York City.
Supporters argue fare-free buses would reduce conflict, improve safety, and offer immediate relief to riders who depend on buses the most. Skeptics, including on-air pundits and transit organizations, warn the idea risks creating a major funding gap for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) unless the city commits to a durable revenue stream and a clear operational plan.
New York City bus riders already face some of the slowest service in the nation despite carrying millions of passengers each day.
"We’re the biggest ridership, and yet we’re subject to the slowest buses. It’s a fundamental unfairness. It’s an embarrassment," Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director at the Riders Alliance, told Fox News Digital during a bus ride through the Bronx.
That history helps explain why Mamdani’s proposal has resonated politically. Pearlstein said bus riders, many of whom are students, seniors, and caregivers, are pressed for time and money just like drivers or subway commuters. Yet buses have long been deprioritized on New York City streets.
"That is why this administration’s call for fast and free buses resonates," he added.
Pearlstein's interview, among others, is part of Fox News Digital’s "The Rise of Socialism" series, which examines how socialist ideas and policies are increasingly shaping political debates and public policy in major cities across the United States.
Advocates point first to safety and reduced conflict. Multiple interviewees claimed that fare disputes are a persistent source of tension between riders and bus operators.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
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I hope he succeeds in bringing down that city. I have never forgiven myself for shedding tears for New York after 911.
Those “free” transportation systems - buses, subways, etc. will be immediately taken over by homeless who will use them as “shelters.”
18 died on the streets recently due to the freezing cold weather - Mamdani says they have the right to be on the street.
“Of the 18 deaths, 15 were confirmed to be due to hypothermia.”
NOTHING is FREE
“Free” busses will become mobile homeless camps almost immediately. And very expensive ones that that. It’s so predictable. Mamdani won’t even remove them from the subways anymore.
Hey, why not? After all, evidently it works in India.
Maybe he’ll make the Bus Drivers work for Free
New York was a fundamentally different place 25 years ago than today. 9/11 was only 12 years after Reagan. While NYC, like the rest of the country seems intent on committing suicide, the victims of 9/11 and the city itself was not the socialist $hithole it is now. The firefighters, police, and EMT workers were salt of the earth people and fundamentally patriotic people who loved America. This was largely pre-DEI nonsense. The workers in the towers were also largely commuters from the suburbs and outer boroughs, focused on careers with families (i.e. not freeloaders). It’s perfectly ok to have supported and grieved for NY after 9/11, while also seeing the city for the cesspool it has descended into.
In the end, all of it, socialism, communism, Marxism, is fundamentally flawed and unsustainable.
It is all the ideological equivalent of a perpetual motion machine.
It all starts off at a given level, and as soon as the socialist gears are engaged, the downward descent begins.
Over time, the existing wealth consumed by socialism is never replaced, in the same way a healthy human body is inexorably consumed by a wasting disease over time.
And eventually both the human body and a wealthy society waste away as they are consumed and die in exactly the same fashion. Venezuela was an object lesson in real time, in our lives, exactly how that works.
The only reason Socialism “works” is that wealth has to exist for it as a host to consume, and there has to be a fresh supply of “Useful Idiots” and “Marks” who will lend support to socialist endeavors.
And there are never shortages of “Useful Idiots” and “Marks” who are willing to go all in on the socialist agenda...because they all think they will be the ones to benefit in some way.
They don’t understand that they too will be victimized in the same way the owners of wealth will be.
> there has to be a fresh supply of “Useful Idiots” and “Marks” who will lend support to socialist endeavors <
Yep. And a fundamental tenet of socialism is “This time it will be different.”
But of course it never is.
So... taxpayers in other parts of New York State and in other states will be forced to pay for the shortfalls.
Safety regulations , Who needs them
It takes money to maintain buses and trains…that is what part of the fare is for.
Whoa, talk about economy class. The socialists look at that as making things better.
I laughed at the part where they want the people who have to pay for it all shouldn’t be allowed to avail themselves of the “free bus service” because they make too much. This is insane.🤡🤡
With millions of riders a day the advertising should be enough to make them profitable. Plenty of places do free public transit, ads pay for them. It’s not actually tough. The model kept TV and radio going for decades.
DON’T BUSES MAKE ALOT MORE “STOPS”?
HOW DO YOU MAKE THAT QUICKER???
Agreed.
After all, commies only pretend to pay people for their work.
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