The High Cost of Free Rides: What Albuquerque and Kansas City Teach New York About Fare-Free Transit

As New York City considers implementing a universal free bus system under incoming mayor Zoran Mamdani, cities like Albuquerque, Kansas City, and Portland provide cautionary evidence that “zero-fare” transit programs come with significant social, financial, and safety costs. Albuquerque’s experience with free fares—initiated by Mayor Tim Keller during COVID-19 and extended indefinitely—has led to widespread public concern. Once envisioned as a tool for equity and mobility, the policy is now linked to increased homelessness, panhandling, and public safety issues along major corridors such as Central Avenue and Downtown. The city’s earlier ART (Albuquerque Rapid Transit) project under Mayor Richard Berry compounded these challenges, costing over $125 million while reducing roadway capacity and damaging local businesses. Combined with abandoned scooters and deteriorating infrastructure, the city’s transit system has become emblematic of failed urban mobility planning. Kansas City’s “Zero-Fare Transit” program, launched in 2020 and later discontinued, mirrors these struggles. Bus operators there reported a sharp rise in assaults, intoxication, and unsanitary conditions—including public defecation and vandalism. Security costs soared as route cuts and losses mounted, prompting the city council to reinstate fares to restore order and accountability. Surveys of drivers overwhelmingly supported the return of paid fares as a means of improving safety and rider behavior. For New York, Mamdani’s proposed fare-free system carries a projected annual price tag of $800 million—a cost comparable to large infrastructure projects. Critics, including the Amalgamated Transit Union, warn that it could attract crime, strain taxpayers, and divert funds from targeted programs like “Fair Fares” that assist low-income commuters. As past examples show, free transit may sound equitable but often undermines both fiscal sustainability and public safety—transforming buses into shelters and city corridors into unintended zones of disorder.