Eric Goldwyn Calls on Zohran Mamdani

to Rethink Free Bus Pledges

Director of Transportation and Land Use, Eric Goldwyn, has written “Beyond Free Buses: Are There Other Ways to Achieve Zohran Mamdani’s Campaign Promise to Make Transit More Affordable?” in Vital City. He offers three alternatives to free buses, including making them faster and expanding “Fair Fares”:

Rather than making buses free for all New Yorkers, let’s first make them fast. In my own research with colleagues at NYU’s Marron Institute on bus networks and informal transportation in New York City, I have found that passengers prefer frequent and reliable bus service to free fares. New Yorkers care more about speed and frequency, because, on average, New Yorkers spend a bit less on transportation than their fellow Americans. This is important because it suggests that transportation is not the root cause of New York’s affordability crisis.

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Thank you!